Monday, November 27, 2023

Giving thanks

 


My cousin Myshka's youngest daughter Talia is getting married in Florida tomorrow. Alex and I decided we'd make the trip. We hadn't seen Myshka in more than 20 years, incredibly. We'd seen the Myshky -- Ara, Lesia and Talia -- but still a very long time ago. We decided to make the trip given that there is a direct flight from Dublin to Orlando and they live in the Tampa-St Petersburg area about a 3-hour drive. A visit to warm weather and longer days was beckoning. Seeing the family gave us a great excuse and a really important reason. 

We booked business class as we discovered it was a 9-hour flight. We got up early and had to drive to Dublin in the morning. On the road before sunrise, we made it to the airport by 10 am. As a perk of Business Class, you get to use the Lounge while waiting and Dublin has two. You also get to bypass security at preclearance and you get on the plane first. It was class. 

The plane was a brand new A330 Airbus. We had reclining seats! So we got to sleep for a while, even though in this direction you need to stay up. I watched two movies, including Elvis which was great, and a Wes Anderson movie called Asteroid City which was bizarre. We flew through a lot of turbulence but otherwise, the flight was uneventful.

After spending the night at a monster resort near Orlando, we made our way to a beach house in Indian Shores. A lovely lunch at Caddy's on the intracoastal waterway, a walk on the beach, and a swim and book session in the morning, gave us our taste of Florida without much heat or sunshine. 

Then it was on to Myshka's for Thanksgiving lunch with the family. Tears, laughs, memories and catchup made the time fly. It was as though we had not missed a month much less several decades. That's what it means to be a Ukrainian family. 

We all shared all the stuff we'd been doing for Ukrainian refugees in our respective communities. Talia has been amazing, organizing her church to support the delivery of whatever the soldiers need on the front lines. She befriended a Uki soldier who came to Tampa for training at the military facility there. He sends her lists of what they need, and she gets donations, procures the goods, and has them delivered to the front lines directly. Our amazing little Talia. She even sent them two drones!

Marta Fedoriw routinely organizes fundraisers for the key organizations providing support from the diaspora. Alex and I have sponsored families, secured housing, gotten kids into school, arranged for medical care, translated where necessary, and I taught English in Newport and Westport for a year. Everyone had their own contribution to share. The war on Ukraine is a war on the diaspora worldwide. That's what Russia doesn't understand. 

We squeezed in a visit to the wonderful Salvador Dali Museum in St Petersburg before the wedding.

The wedding was brilliant. A family friend who is a priest in Ottawa officiated and he was a riot. He explained everything in English so the groom's family and friends would understand, he joked and he made it fun. At the reception, he danced up a storm and a kolomiyka was inevitable with former Voloshky present. Talia looked gorgeous in a stunning dress, and she was so composed. We loved James from the first moment and we think she made a wise choice. Natalia and James Rhodes. 

It was a wonderful week. We capped it off with a breakfast for 20 at the hotel with tearful goodbyes and promises to visit more often -- not to let 20-plus years go by without connecting. 

Slava Bohu is Slava Ukraini. 

So with a one-night stay at Margaritaville to top it off (not as great as expected and frightfully expensive for the delivery), we are now sitting in the airport lounge waiting to fly home. An 8-hour plus flight and a 3.5-hour drive home awaits us. So do my kitties. I miss them, especially little Ghostie!

The Aer Lingus lounge in Dublin

My seat on the place

View from the window of the Shingle Creek -
we saw the fireworks at Disney World from there!

Caddy's on the intracoastal

The boardwalk at John's Pass

Drizzly weather at John's Pass

Walking paths at Carillion Lake

Great blue heron

Bell tower at Carillon Lake

Lunch at the HIlton

Sun finally on the morning of the wedding

Carillion lake

The Dali Museum







Lunch at BJ's in St Pete

Myshka with Lesia's Steven

Beautiful Natalia

What a dress!  So Talia!

Two priests

Crowns and rushnychok

Praying to the virgin for children

Epiphany of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church

The Philly contingent

The bridal party bus

Oksana with cat ears

The conga line

Voloshky


Margaritaville pools

Reading by the pool before the rain started

Alex went for a swim!

Nice room

Comfy bed

Nicely done resort

Rainy weather

Parrothead retreat

Champagne glass chandelier

The lobby flip-flop

'I blew out my flip flop. Stepped on a pop top.' 

The Margaritaville chandelier

Crocs for sale -- $82.50!!!

I had to have a Margarita in the bar. 

Calamari and tuna tower - frightfully expensive!

Santa and his helpers were on duty!

George and Alex hamming it up. 

PS Ghostie and Mini are happy!