FAMILY?!

It would seem that God smiled on me at the end of the month of August as I was privileged to have visitors from my “neck of the woods” - more like my branch of the family tree. My Aunt and Uncle from Alaska came to Sydney to visit as the first destination of many around the country, and even though they had been to Sydney before, they liked it so much they wanted to visit again – and of course see their niece! The cool thing is I don’t ever get to see them normally, since Alaska is *quite* a distance from Indiana.

We had a lovely visit – I was given a day to go spend with them, and after meeting them at their city center hotel, we stopped by St. Mary’s Cathedral, where I gave them a tour complete with an imaginative painting of the WYD festivities surrounding it. From there we ventured to the Centre Point Tower where we had a look at the city from up high! Down we came and grabbed lunch on Darling Harbor (very American, we all ordered cheeseburgers!) and then spent the afternoon in the Aquarium, which was a treat for me – I had not gotten to see it yet! It’s quite good, actually, although I have to say one of their displays was a reconstruction of a section of the Great Barrier Reef, and the only thing it did for me was make me miss the many times I snorkeled up there for real. The Aquarium was just no match for the true thing.

As we left the aquarium, we were just in time for the evening Mass at the Cathedral, so I parted to attend Mass, and then re-joined Aunt Tara and Uncle John for dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant near their hotel (I LOVE Thai!). I left them that night with instructions for how to make their way to Clovelly, where the next night I was to cook them dinner.

They follow directions very well and just on time they came to the house, where I was so happy to be able to show somebody from home what I have been living this year! We had dinner, and Aunt Tara, ever thoughtful, had brought us some American chocolates, so we cracked those open – the boys weren’t going to waste any time!

I drove them back to their hotel (I know how much I enjoy NOT having to take public transportation in a foreign city) and as we left, I was unsure when I would see them again. God willing I will one day make a trip to Alaska to see where they live! But what a blessing to have that visit with them, and just me and them, half way around the world. Truly unique!