Tuesday, January 12, 2010

My trip to Berlin...

Most of you know that my lovely daughter, Viola (her Polish name) visited us over the Christmas holiday. It was so much fun to be together again and she and I spent some great time just chatting and catching up. She has a new boyfriend whom I adore. We learned alot about his family and how my daughter is adjusting to dorm life at school in Idaho.


All too soon her visit came to an end. Today she flew out of Berlin, to Dusseldorf and then on to Chicago. I will miss her so much, and just walking by her room will make me a bit tearful the first few days. However, I am blessed to know that she is making good choices in her life and she has done very well in school. (She had only one B and the rest were A's!!! YAY!)

We decided to take Viola to Germany because the trip to Berlin in the van she usually takes would have left her at the airport for much too long. Instead we rented a nice hotel room and had one last fun night as a family before her departure and even the dog, Ollie, came along! We had a huge European supper in our room. (Deli meat, yummy cheeses, fruit,fresh bread...MMMM!) We watched a show called "Chuck" online and several cake decorating shows (Can't remember the name, but the bakery is in Baltimore). We stayed up late and laughed and had a great time. I fell asleep as we watched the "Chuck" episode, all of us cuddled on the BIG KING SIZE bed, even Ollie. None of us slept very well because she had to be at the airport so early and we were all nervous she would miss it if we overslept.


So, at 7 a.m. I kissed her goodbye. She and her Daddy left for the airport. :( As I write she is somewhere in the air and headed for the USA. I can only pray that she is safe and that God is watching over her. This is something we knew when we committed to Poland would be part of our lives, but it is never easy.

Both of us, feeling a little depressed, decided we needed a pick me up after the drop off. SO we headed to STARBUCKS!!! Yay! There are not any Starbucks in Poland near us yet and so when we go to Germany I am ALWAYS ready to go. We got to the cashier and my hubby said "I want to buy you one of these!", a bright red mug that says Starbucks and Berlin on it! I was so happy. We have traveled to so many countries and I often thought of buying one of these mugs, but had not for fear I would have cupboards FULL of Starbucks mugs. But today it seemed right. I ordered a caramel SAUCE latte, he ordered a vanilla latte and my sweetie and I sipped a great cup of coffee at my all time favorite coffee shop, besides ours. LOVED it!!!!


My diet, the one I started before Christmas, was kind of blown by this cup of coffee. (And by the cheese the night before, and several treats I made while she was here, hahaha!) Tomorrow I wake up to the harsh reality that my baby is indeed gone and that I cannot eat my way through this emotionally trying time. I am hoping my resolve is strengthened before morning arrives. I still have my beautiful Polish daughters who will stand by me, but a part of my heart will be in Idaho with my baby girl.

So there it is...
the good
the bad
the ugly
it's all there, and was a long day.
Goodnight!

7 comments:

D'Anna said...

I love reading your blog . . . it is warm and comfortable . . . thank you!
I can only imagine what it will be like to say good-bye to my daughter one of these days . . . she's only 3 at this point, but I love being with her . . .
How blessed you are to have this Love in your life!

Jackie said...

It sounds like you had a great visit and spending that last night together in Germany sounds wonderful. I'm sure you are proud of her even though being apart is hard. I still have several years before my kids leave the nest but I can only imagine how hard it is to say goodbye. Thanks for such an honest and heartwarming post.

Jackie

Tania said...

there's a starbucks opening in browar SOON!!!!

not that you need one in poznan now that you have the sweet surrender - i hear it has THE BEST coffee in town!!!!

Beth said...

Hey there!
Thanks for the visit!
Have a great weekend.
I know you must miss your daughter....hang in there.


Hugs and :)

Beth

Ange said...

Rhonda that's both beautiful and heartwarming. My kids are only young - but I can imagine it will be the same for me. Bugger the diet!! You can watch your food when the spring comes ;-)

Farmgirl Paints said...

Awww thanks for sharing your visit with us. She is a beautiful girl, and I can tell you are so proud of her. I can't imagine my girls so far away from me. No wonder you feel blue and like eating... I would too. But from what I can see you are a strong woman. I'm sure you will get back to your purpose and routine in Poland in no time...diet right back on track.

Anonymous said...

Rhonda there is Starbucks in Wroclaw so when we move there you can always come and I will take you there:)- Ania