Dad isn’t much into traveling these days. He gets tired easily and he hasn’t the desire or the interest that once took him around the world (to Africa, Portugal, Ireland, Israel and India, to name just a few).
But after Mom’s death, he was determined to get to Florida to visit her twin sister Chris. He wanted to be with her in her grief – if there was anyone who understood what he himself was going through, it was Aunt Chris. She and Mom were the best of friends for their entire lives, and because she never married, for Aunt Chris, Mom was everything.
My sister Moy Moy worried that the trip to Miami would be too tiring for Dad to manage – the lines for check-in and security and baggage just seemed too much to expect him to cope with. So she and her husband Brian arranged for us to fly down in a private jet!
Let me assure you, gentle reader, you have never experienced luxury quite like this.
We drove straight up to the plane – no lines, no security, no check-in. Our bags were taken out of the boot and stowed while we were being ushered up the four steps into the plane. Someone drove our car away to a parking area and someone else would have it waiting for us when we returned. Inside the plane, we were welcomed and made comfortable and told about all the wonderful little stashes of treats hidden away under our seats, where the wine was and how to operate the video system. Amazing.
Moy and Brian have a beautiful flat on Fisher Island which is where we were going to stay. We got in around nine, had dinner and went to bed. I was so excited about being there I could hardly sleep. I kept waking up to see if it was light enough to get up. When seven AM finally rolled around, this is the view I got from the balcony:
I went for a long walk before anyone else was up- it was so beautiful and quiet at that time of the morning: just me and all the worker-bees, busy combing the sand, polishing the walkways and trimming the grass.
Aunt Chris at 11 arrived with my brother Chris (who lives with her and looks after her) and her companion-nurse Gennifer. I hadn’t seen her in two years and I was a bit shocked by how thin and frail she has become.
But she was so happy to see us and to have the chance to talk about her beloved twin and how much she missed her. She said her death was “the saddest thing that had ever happened” to her.
We showed her the photos from the funeral and told her about all the songs and the readings and who all had come and what they had said. I played her the song I had written for the funeral which Patrick had sung and then burned onto a CD for me and she and Dad both cried while they listened.
Moy Moy took us all out for a lovely lunch by the ocean and we talked some more about Aunt Chris’ childhood with Mom and the many memories they shared. Brian had sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers and Moy gave them to Aunt Chris to take home. And before we knew it, it was time to leave. 24 hours, round trip. Amazing.
