Dad always remembered taking off on 'The Big Bird' to America on his birthday. There were celebrations, decorations, songs and gifts accompanying his departure from Greece and arrival to America. This summer when we saw his school records from elementary school (you may remember that we shared these with you on the first leg, Greece), they noted that he had left Velvento by bus just before Christmas. Just like he left on Christmas, we are traveling to Australia to reunite with his two brothers at exactly the same time!!
(*12/15/59 was his last day attending school in Velvento and one week before he took off for America)
Dad's birthday is August 14, so after seeing the records we realized he had actually left on Christmas! His memory of presents in America still held up, and his memory of the airline stewardesses doting on him and singing to him (happy birthday as he had remembered it) may have been founded in the fact that a small adorable 6 year old boy traveling to a foreign land all alone on Christmas is just worthy of such kind and loving treatment.
We were lucky enough to see the sunrise over the Pacific...Beautiful...Beautiful...Beautiful...
When we booked this trip we weren't thinking of the synchronistic timing, it was simply the best time to visit our uncles who would have time off from work, and flying on Christmas day proved to be the cheapest option. But just before leaving we realized the full weight and heartwarming implications of it.
During the flight to Australia, we secretly told the steward a shortened version of our Greek adventure and my dad's history. Unbeknownst to Dad, the crew one by one meandered from their hideouts to our isle with sneaky smiles on; our intrigue growing exponentially as they closed in row by row, each of them had a sneaky half-smile on. Donning Santa hats and holding a piece of cake, they began to sing 'happy birthday' to my dad, bringing memory-induced tears to his eyes as the rest of the passengers watched with confusion, excitement, and joy!
Like I said, we hadn't planned this sort of timing as part of our trip, but the parallels between my dad's worlds of new and old seem to run rampant ever since we located the first of his Greek family. I've no other way to describe it than it is all so clearly meant to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment