Welcome to Oh the Places We'll See! Thank you for wanting to be apart of our month long journey from Dublin, Ireland to Linkoping Sweden. During our journey, my mother and I will be documenting the adventure right here!
A little about this mother daughter team:
Lets start with the one who began it all, my mom, Jeanette.
My mom is probably the strongest person you will ever meet. She is stubborn beyond belief but maybe that is what is keeping her going through all of her trials and tribulations. She is a three time cancer survivor, well almost. She currently is living with Stage IV Breast Cancer that has metastasized to the bones. She was diagnosed January 2010 and was given 2 years to live.
During the beginning of the third diagnosis in 2010, she was also caring for my father who was living with Stage IV Kidney Cancer. My father was diagnosed in March of 2006 and was given 6 months to live. My father fought and was able to be with us until July 16, 2010 where he past away peacefully in an Arizona hospice center surrounded by family and friends. Basically, after my mom was diagnosed, the automatic stress
did not help either one of them and that is when the cancer got the best of my dad.
My mother spent January 2010 to July 2010 only really caring about my fathers well being over her own. I think you can start to see why I can not only talk highly of this woman. Yes, my mom and I fight like school kids on a playground sometimes but we are the type of duo that after a fight we usually laugh about it.
So it has been 4 1/2 years or so since my mom was diagnosed and given the 2 year time table and she is still fighting and still living her life the way she wants to live it. That is why 2 weeks ago my mom decided it was time for the trip she has always wanted to do and lucky for me, she wanted a companion to join her. On a whim she bought the tickets and booked the hotels and that is why I am writing to you all today.
My mom has raised three kids, pretty great ones if you ask me ;-) . There is Jenni, who lucky for us, is moving to Sweden and we are going to be able to see her, her husband Jeff, and her two beautiful babies Georgia and Walker. Jenni and Jeff have been married since June 2006 and they gave birth to twins October 16 2012. They primarily live in Minnesota but since Jeff is a professional hockey player, they move around a lot during the season. This year Jeff and Jenni made the decision to accept a contract to play in Sweden. There is myself but we will talk about me later on. And then there is Bobby, the 21 year old giant that is 100% my fathers clone in every way possible. Currently he is at Missouri State playing hockey (GO BEARS) and going to school to become a trainer and physical therapist.
She has put us first and has gone through so much. Yes, my mom and I disagree about a lot of topics but living a life to the fullest has never been one of them. My dad left this world saying that he had no regrets and he wanted my mom to be able to do the same. So we begin our journey with him in mind and to not let the memories pass us by and to treasure the present.
Some interesting details about this woman:
Hobbies: Cooking, hiking with our dog Penny Lane, and traveling
Interests: Her children and her grandchildren.....and dog
Favorite Food: Seafood Pasta with white wine cream sauce
Place most wanting to visit: Paris
Thing she is looking most forward to do: Spending time with none other that me :-) and my sister Jenni
A little about myself:
My name is Alex. I am currently residing in St. Louis, MO. I have moved around a lot, mostly because I can't seem to find the place where I belong. Previous to St. Louis, I lived in Minnesota for 2 years working at an advertising company. I was laid off in March this year and I guess in a way I have been trying to figure out what I want to do from here on out. I will be honest, I have had a lot of things handed to me throughout my life and I really need to learn to do things on my own. It is probably my biggest flaw. I am working on that part of me and I am hoping that this trip will help me learn a little about myself.
I drive a PT Cruiser, so yes I am called PT Loser by family. I refuse to give the car up for a couple of reasons but the biggest is because I will never forget the look on my dads face when he watched me open the Tiffany's box and pull out a car key. Truthfully, my father was in fact my best friend and my biggest fan. No matter if it was a graduation or a dance recital, he was there cheering me on. At the time of his final months, I was living away from him in St. Louis (my family lived in Arizona at the time). When I received the call that he was taking a turn for the worse, I packed up my stuff and headed back to AZ to find that the cancer had taken a huge toll on him. Thanks to the Jack and Jill Foundation, my family and myself were able to take one final trip with him to Napa Valley. There I was able to have that one serious talk with my dad. He told me how sorry he was and that he was so so proud of everything I have become and will become in the future. At that time, he handed me his wedding band (which no longer fit on his frail fingers) and told me that he could not imagine anyone else keeping it safe. It happened to be a ring that I always made fun of because it had Indians and Buffalo engraved on it that looked more like turtles and fairies to me. I wear that ring close to my heart on a chain and plan on keeping it close on this trip. I know that he would be so excited for my mom and I and will be watching over us the entire time. I hope to be able to live a full happy life like my father did. That is what I plan on striving for from this day on.
I am lucky to be able to have parents that are and were so strong. They taught me so many things throughout the years and they always pushed myself and my siblings to our fullest potential. They allowed us to find our own voice and to go through our own struggles. I am so excited to have this time with my mom and really be able to create, what I hope to be, really great memories. We may have our ups and downs but overall I know this will be a great trip. I can not even explain the excitement I have had since she booked the flights. We are down to less than a week! Saturday can not come fast enough!
Some interesting things about me:
Hobbies: Shopping, dancing, and going out on the town with friends
Interests: Reading, writing, singing in the car where no one can hear me, and spending time with my family
Favorite Food: Risotto
Place most wanting to visit: Dublin
Thing I am looking most forward to do: Seeing the sites and spending time with the family
I have never tried blog writing, so I hope most of my writing makes sense. Thank you for being apart of this crazy journey and I hope you enjoy this blog.
Considering how early we made it in yesterday morning (8:30 am), we were unable to get into our room for a few hours so we did a little exploring. Luckily, we came across a great little breakfast place called The Elephant & Castle. We split some breakfast which only lead us to be more exhausted. We did learn that on Sundays, no bars or stores sell alcohol till "half passed 12" or 12:30. I think in our case, that was probably a good thing.
The Bank of College Green, which actually was a bank back in the 1700s (I think around that time), has kept the same architecture but has turned itself into a really nice place for drinks, appetizers, meals, and music. My mom and I sat at the bar from 7-10. The food was great. We split fish and chips and I will say that there is definetly not a shortage of potatoes here. Most of the dishes came with not 1 but 2 different kinds of potatoes! Now lets talk about the beer! I am in love with Irish beer! I basically went with the recommendations from the bartenders and I couldn't complain once
Speaking of the bartenders......! They were so knowledgeable not only with the drinks and cuisine but with the history of Ireland. And they were not too bad to look at either. By the end of the night we knew all of their names (David, Phillip, and Mark) and well they of course knew ours. I will say this about my mom, she knows how to start up a conversation with just about anyone. She even started a conversation with the only other American that sat right beside us. Sean if you are reading this, I hope you enjoyed yourself salsa dancing!
