Going Home

July 25th was the last day of the Europe trip. It started off rather rushed. We had to get to the airport, and of course we were running late. Sandra and Talula hated me for taking pictures of them without makeup, as we ran for the bus. We got to the airport and were again subject to searches by men with guns. Our plane landed in Lisbon Portugal for gas before heading on to New York. I went out on the tarmac, so I could say I had been to Portugal. We weren't there long enough to go to the terminal. The plane took off to continue our eight-hour flight to New York. Along the way, Sandra told me that she had decided to marry her boyfriend, based on what he said to her the day before on the phone. I worked on a song that I had written in Israel called "Save the World for the Children". We had seen some Israeli children picking on one boy, as we waited to enter the museum. It made me think about my childhood. Years later, Pope John Paul II blessed my song. I also watched Sid Caesar in the inflight movie "Ten From Your Show of Shows". That was very funny, and I needed a good laugh after Sandra's news. I could also see the film "1776", which was being played in the cabin ahead of us. Anything to keep from being bored. We got to New York eventually. Customs examined the rose I had from the store in Lucerne. I guess they were afraid of bugs, so they took the bud away and left me with the leaves and stem. Thanks, guys. We got on the plane to take us to Greenville. I was so exhausted that I finally was able to sleep on a plane. First time. I had my head on Sandra's shoulder, and Sandra had her head on Talula's shoulder. The last trip for the Three Musketeers. We awoke about the time of the plane landing in Greenville. All of our loved ones were there to greet us. My parents took me to a motel to sleep before going back to Columbia. I don't know what happened to Judy or Sha. I still keep in contact with Talula. She is married and lives in NC. She has been a blessing to me through the years. Sandra got married to her boyfriend, and they live in SC. We have communicated, mostly through 3rd parties, until more recently on Facebook. Mr. Vivian passed away some years back. I visited his grave, when I lived in Greenville. Mrs. Sitton's son Jimmy has been a good friend over the years, and he let me stay with him in Greenville for a little over a year. Mrs. Sitton and I talked a lot about our trip. I don't know what happened to the school teachers on our trip. I guess they retired or died. It was a pivotal moment in my life, and in the lives of the others that went. We saw a lot of poverty and opulence. And, we saw a lot about ourselves. Now, if I could go back, I would pay more attention to the sites. It was a History tour that we got college credit for. I wrote a paper on our trip that I called "Beauty is Only Skin Deep Sometimes", but the professor rejected it, saying it wasn't about History. So, I had to go to the library and read about what we had seen, and I wrote a paper on that instead. Sorry, Dr. von Hasselin. I figure he is looking down on me from Heaven. With his bald head.