6,396 Miles to Cairo... Third Day – Faith, Hope, & Love
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Departure was smooth sailing for Carrie-Bri and Rose. Mom, Collette, Frances, and Linnea drove them to the airport that chilly morning after the rose field of an early morning sunrise. Collette and Linnea opted to wait in the car while Mom and Frances walked them into the terminal under gray skies.
“Bye, be safe,” Carrie called back to Collette and Linnea.
More like be safe yourself, Collette thought, thinking of the terrorist attacks over the past three years.
They watched the girls walk off with Mom and Frances in comfy clothes (Rose in electric green pants, which Mom thought wasn’t quite appropriate enough to wear as traveling clothes). Each carried a great traveling backpack and a smaller black bag in one hand and soon disappeared into the tube of the staircase to the street.
“They kind of look like they’re on Journey to the Center of the Earth,” Collette said aloud to Linnea, “like they’re about to enter the volcano.”
And just like that, they were off.
For the rest of the day, Mom, Collette, and the kids headed off to Grandma’s little apartment in French Town, Old Florissant. They waited until it was time for lunch, watching part of Demetrius and the Gladiators with Victor Mature.
“You know your great-grandpa served on the same battleship with Victor Mature in the war,” Mom told Frances and Linnea, who had not yet heard the story.
“On The Duncan,” Grandma added. “That was the name of the ship.”
And then Grandma, who had already made lunch plans, went off to the Senior Center. The rest of the them went to one of Frances’ and Linnea’s new favorite places to eat – the old City Diner. A hole in the wall – a few tables, a counter set up facing the small grill and fridge. There really was no back room. The head cook was Turkish and would be returning to his homeland for a visit in two days. Collette followed Frances’ suggestion and ordered a three-egg omelet with cheddar, fried hash browns, and toast with butter and jelly. She also broke down and had a root beer. Mom ordered a Mexican omelet with sour cream, and Linnea had pigs in a blanket: sausages wrapped in pancakes, and a mug of hot chocolate. Little diners often served the best food in the end.
After lunch, Mom took a small snooze back at Grandma’s apartment. Then Grandma popped several bags of popcorn, they swung by QT for cappuccinos for Mom and Grandma, and drove to the tank park – thus called, because the highlight of the grounds was an old army tank, sealed off at the top. Everyone loved the tank park. Collette stayed in the car where it was warm with Mom and Grandma, who talked about all the aunts (Collette’s great-great-great aunts): Tante Vi, Tante Hun, and Tante Edna.
After awhile, they headed back so that Grandma would make it to her four o’clock appointment at the eye doctor. On the way, they stopped by a little shop off of Grandma’s street: Rue St. Francis. While in there, Frances made a humorous purchase for Rose. He came out with a box tied up in a red bag, giggling over his find.
“Look what I bought for Rose with my own money,” he laughed, unwrapping the box.
Collette had to admit that his find perfectly fit Rose’s personality.
Frances was going to save it for her birthday until he remembered that her birthday wasn’t until June, and so he decided to give it to her upon her return from Egypt.
Back at the house, Joe had recently returned from work.
“Guess what – I got to clean a Hummer with pearlescent paint,” Joe said marveling. “The owner was the producer for Chingy.”
Dinner that night was at the Silverspoon’s where they watched several episodes of Firefly.
And Polly’s wedding date was set for sometime in August. That brought the wedding tally to about five already for 2007 – one in May, two in June (one of those being in Arkansas), one in July, and now one in August.