I came to live with Guill when he was 37 years old and was with him when he died at 89. For 52 years I heard all about his travels around the world and about life in Belgium When he was 51 he decided to go back to Belgium and take me with him. For the first time I meet the aunts and uncles, grandmother and cousins I had heard so much about. It was pretty intimidating for a naive country girl of 20! Lucky for me, they are a great family and I fell in love with them and Belgium immediately. I wouldn't see them for 30 years though my uncle Guillaume would keep me posted through emails about the family. When I did go back, I took my family with me and yes, I was worried that it would be awkward despite all the emails. Who would remember me? I remembered all of them but then I had Guill talking about them through the years. I knew who got married, who had problems, illness, etc but what did they know about me? Here I was bringing my family that now numbered 6 into their midst!
How do I describe that reunion except to say how I felt 20 years old all over again except instead of watching Guill reunite and feel their love, it was me and my family. We all vowed to not let 30 years pass again before we connected. Jim and I came back a couple of times and even brought Clyde back with us once. We had lost Adam shortly after that first reunion and they embraced me back with all my sorrows hanging over me like a shroud. I don't think I began to heal until I went back.
I miss Belgium when I am not there. As Matt would tell me, "I have seen you with both sides of the family now and I have to say, it feels like this is where you belong". So true and I finally understood why I was so different than my older siblings. I had been raised by a European and it gave me a different outlook on life.
When Eddy and Betty told me that they were coming to the USA when they both retired, Jim and I got so excited. Even when it got delayed one year, we never gave up home we would be able to welcome them to our country. Now they were here and we would travel to Louisville where they would get to meet my family for the first time. All the names they had read in letters and in conversations would finally make sense! It can be a bit overwhelming to meet everyone at one time but time was short and they were kinda thrown into the fire!
My sweet niece Cathy and her daughter would take us into their home for that first night. Cathy had went all out with preparing for our first meal a complete Thanksgiving Dinner! The next morning she had to go to work but left us with breakfast casseroles, fruit dish and fresh coffee. I thought, "what a great impression we were making on them!"
The next day we went to see my sister Janice and her husband Carl and stay the next two nights with them. My sister was so excited to finally put faces to the names too. Southern families are gracious by nature and she had given Eddy and Betty her bedroom despite us reassuring her the basement bedroom was fine! However, like all my arguments with my big sis, I lost! There was one funny instance when my sister who is almost compulsive when it comes to how a bed was made, actually went in and remade the bed before all the company came and told me "I hope they don't get offended but we have company coming over". I just had to laugh as the company was just her kids! Luckily, Eddy and Betty had a good sense of humor about her compulsive nature!
We would visit Churchill Downs where Eddy got to mount a "horse" and try to win a race in one of their interactive video games. Our tour guide impressed us with his knowledge and the story about Secretariat.
Even though I grew up there, it was the first time I had ever been there.
We showed them the neighborhood I grew up in and we visited and put flowers on Guill's and mom's graves.
We took a leisure drive to Fort Knox and drove up to the gate only to be told no one was allowed on base anymore and we could visit the museum down the road. Basically, "get your butts turned around and back off!"
The museum was interesting and once again, something I had not seen either.
The last event would be the dinner of cold cuts, salads and desserts shared with Tommy and his boys, Lisa and Steve, Cathy and Alisha and my great niece Lauren and her children and even my brother Don and his wife Julia showed up. Like most family get together it was noisy but fun. Eddy and Betty were quickly embraced by the whole family.
That night we would repack and get ready for Austin!
How do I describe that reunion except to say how I felt 20 years old all over again except instead of watching Guill reunite and feel their love, it was me and my family. We all vowed to not let 30 years pass again before we connected. Jim and I came back a couple of times and even brought Clyde back with us once. We had lost Adam shortly after that first reunion and they embraced me back with all my sorrows hanging over me like a shroud. I don't think I began to heal until I went back.
I miss Belgium when I am not there. As Matt would tell me, "I have seen you with both sides of the family now and I have to say, it feels like this is where you belong". So true and I finally understood why I was so different than my older siblings. I had been raised by a European and it gave me a different outlook on life.
When Eddy and Betty told me that they were coming to the USA when they both retired, Jim and I got so excited. Even when it got delayed one year, we never gave up home we would be able to welcome them to our country. Now they were here and we would travel to Louisville where they would get to meet my family for the first time. All the names they had read in letters and in conversations would finally make sense! It can be a bit overwhelming to meet everyone at one time but time was short and they were kinda thrown into the fire!
My sweet niece Cathy and her daughter would take us into their home for that first night. Cathy had went all out with preparing for our first meal a complete Thanksgiving Dinner! The next morning she had to go to work but left us with breakfast casseroles, fruit dish and fresh coffee. I thought, "what a great impression we were making on them!"
The next day we went to see my sister Janice and her husband Carl and stay the next two nights with them. My sister was so excited to finally put faces to the names too. Southern families are gracious by nature and she had given Eddy and Betty her bedroom despite us reassuring her the basement bedroom was fine! However, like all my arguments with my big sis, I lost! There was one funny instance when my sister who is almost compulsive when it comes to how a bed was made, actually went in and remade the bed before all the company came and told me "I hope they don't get offended but we have company coming over". I just had to laugh as the company was just her kids! Luckily, Eddy and Betty had a good sense of humor about her compulsive nature!
We would visit Churchill Downs where Eddy got to mount a "horse" and try to win a race in one of their interactive video games. Our tour guide impressed us with his knowledge and the story about Secretariat.
Even though I grew up there, it was the first time I had ever been there.
We showed them the neighborhood I grew up in and we visited and put flowers on Guill's and mom's graves.
We took a leisure drive to Fort Knox and drove up to the gate only to be told no one was allowed on base anymore and we could visit the museum down the road. Basically, "get your butts turned around and back off!"
The museum was interesting and once again, something I had not seen either.
The last event would be the dinner of cold cuts, salads and desserts shared with Tommy and his boys, Lisa and Steve, Cathy and Alisha and my great niece Lauren and her children and even my brother Don and his wife Julia showed up. Like most family get together it was noisy but fun. Eddy and Betty were quickly embraced by the whole family.
That night we would repack and get ready for Austin!
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