palavras, palavras...: Back to the USA

I had the opportunity to go back to the US to visit my niece Camille and her children, in 1997. What joy to be able to see my dear nieces Camille and Carla, my nephew Cassio, my great-niece Natasha and my great-nephew Nicholas, Camille's children!

My own children stayed at home with uncle Clovis. They loved it! He baked apple pies and other goodies for them, in addition to substituting me in all the private classes I had at the time.

Camille, her kids and I traveled by car from Florida to Virginia. Natasha and Nicholas were adorable traveling companions. We took our time, gazing at the landscape, stopping when feeling tired. We had picnic lunches in parks that we found by the road, then played ball or frisbee.

Our first stop was Virginia Beach, where we visited Gary and Candy, the children's uncle and aunt. They live in a beautiful house by a lake and at that time they had a limousine service. We went everywhere in grand style. I remember that we went to a shopping center and the salesgirls ran out of the stores, trying to see who was the celebrity arriving at the mall. It was really funny.

We left the kids enjoying the company of their relatives and went on to see cousin Julia Katherine. As usual, the visit was very pleasant. I met again cousins that had met my mother when she was a student there, as well as my grandparents...

On the way back,we traveled slowly, stopping often, taking pictures, we even saw an ostrich farm in Georgia! It was lots of fun.

A short time after that it was my son Rodrigo's turn to go to the US and Camille took him, with cousins Carla and Cassio, on the same trip, so they could all meet the cousins in Virginia.

Last year, 2012, I was able to go to the US again. All these trips were wonderful vacations, that stayed on my mind forever.

This time I stayed for ten days in Ohio, with my cousin Beverly, that I hadn't seen for over forty years. I saw her husband Ed again, and their son and daughter, Craig and Dawn, that I had met in 1971, when they were very small. I met their families, we went to a luncheon at the home of Mike and Dawn, where I met my cousin W.G. I hadn't met him the other time, and now met his children, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. It was a wonderful day.

In Ohio I went to several baseball games and saw Jack, Dawn's son, play. It was a lot of fun. I chatted a lot with little Emily, Jack's sister, and met several friends of the family, all very nice.

Beverly took me many places, even to Amish country – something I always wanted to do, a beautiful outing. I'll never forget all the kindness and thoughtfulness of my dear cousin. We went shopping, rode in a buggy, visited the small school, ate a delicious salad and a savory tomato soup. I'll try to look for the recipe and make it at home.

But the best part was to talk with my cousin, play Scrabble, spend some calm and very pleasant time there.

From Ohio we went to Virginia, where we stayed at the house that belonged to cousin Julia. Other cousins stayed there too, Joe and Jay. On one side of the house lives Julia Katherine, cousin Julia's daughter, and on the other side lives Fred, JK's son, his wife Michelle and sons Ryan and Will. Graham came from North Carolina with little Chris to spend a day with us, Chris played a lot with his cousin Will.

In Virginia, more fun in store for us: the four cousins staying at cousin Julia's house, talking, reading books about the family and the region, looking at old photographs. Joe is very knowledgeable about the genealogy of the family, we learned a lot.

We went on several outings and visited many places, such as the Boyd Tavern, the cemetery where my great-grandparents are buried, the Walton Museum. I remember that series so well, I used to watch it with my mother. Everything was very good. The delicious peaches and cherries that were everywhere, I've never seen anything quite like them – just like my mother used to say...

We had lunch at our cousin Ann's one beautiful summer afternoon and met more relatives, visited the spectacular antique carriages museum that shelters cousin Robert Thomas', Ann's brother, collection. Marie Thomas graciously received us. We strolled in Ann's vegetable garden – it made me wish I had one at home.