Dang It! I would have to go soon...

I still can’t believe I went overseas.  And Africa?! What in the world was I thinking?  I had been planning this trip since early 2011.  My sister, Christie (www.compassinmyheart.blogspot.com) made the decision to move to Uganda full time in December 2010.  Our first trip was scheduled for the first two weeks of July 2011.  Christie & George decided to visit that month and I must admit that I was relieved that I wasn’t going.  You can read about that visit here: http://volks-folks.blogspot.com/2011/07/comin-to-america.html

I was just so scared; and for many reasons.  Leaving the kids, the LONG flight, how the travel would affect Mom’s health, and just being so far away from home.  And quite honestly, I’ve always been a pansy when it came to stuff like that.  Christie & George announced their pregnancy and stayed in the States for a few months to have Josiah.  Awesome! I could stall a few more months.  Josiah was born in October 2011 and they didn’t go home until the end of December.  I knew they would not be coming back for some time.  Dang it.  I would have to go soon.  George kept asking me when I was coming.  Christie & George’s older children (Moses & Zziwa) kept messaging me on FB and asking  when I was coming.  I could sense their disappointment. Every time I said “soon”.  They were losing hope.  I couldn’t let them down.  Dang it.  I would have to go soon.

Fast forward to July 2012.  Christie & Josiah came to visit and I was once again relieved that they were coming.  We would get our Christie & Josiah “fix” and I would be good to go for another 6 months or so.  By that time, surely something would bring them back to visit the States and I could dodge it for another year maybe. Christie had planned on staying for about 4 weeks and Mom was going back with them.  They planned for me to travel (by myself, might I add) to Uganda and travel back with Mom.  Dang it.  I would have to go soon.   

 Josiah, Me & Christie ~ Atlanta ~ July 2012

The day before they were supposed to leave, Christie became very sick.  So they would just leave the following week. Christie never got better and ended up in the hospital with malaria.  She was pregnant on top of that, which made her condition a lot more serious.  The team of doctors at UAB advised her NOT to go back to Uganda (long term) until the baby was born.  She didn’t need to risk getting malaria again while pregnant.  I hated that Christie was so sick but again, I was relieved.  By my calculations, the baby wasn’t due until March of NEXT YEAR. I didn’t have to commit yet again.  Whew!

Christie laid up in the hospital.

Somewhere along the way, I failed to keep in mind that this was Christie we were talking about.  Just because she was “advised” to do something, didn’t mean that she was going to do it.  Or even consider it.  I knew she wanted to be in the country that she loves dearly.  I knew that she missed her husband (who recently had his Visa revoked and could not travel to be here with her.  That’s another story in and of itself). I knew that she missed her other littles back home.  There was NO way she was going to stay here for that long.  No way.  Dang it.  I would have to go soon. 

 

Christie fully recovered and changed their tickets.  I would ask my boss if I could take two weeks of my vacation time.  He would surely say no.  Two weeks off at one time for a branch manager was pretty uncommon.  He said yes with no hesitations.  I had just gotten a quarterly bonus.  It just so happened to be the amount of a plane ticket to Uganda.  There was nothing stopping me from booking my ticket but I put it off for about a week.  Christie tried booking my flight one night and it said that particular flight was full.  OK so surely that’s a sign.  Christie called me the next day and told me that she was able to get my ticket booked.  Holy Crap! The next week, I applied for my passport and the following week, received it and got my shots.  

There was no turning back.  DANG. IT!  I would have to go soon…