The photo is taken inside St. Alfege, the ancient Anglican church in Greenwich, Kent, England where my great-great-great-great grandparents christened and buried some of their children. They are also buried in the peaceful yard behind the church.
Last fall my husband and I went together to see the movie, Up. It was a story about a couple and their dreams and adventures. On the way home, my husband asked me what I still dreamed to do. My dream has been to go to England to see where my ancestors had lived. Researching my family lines and trying to flesh them out has been a lifelong avocation of mine. Fifteen year ago a daughter and I flew back to New York on a family history quest and had wonderful experiences walking where our forefathers had walked and unraveling their stories. My hope to follow the trail to England has been strong ever since.
My husband never mentioned it again but my Christmas gift was a trip he had arranged with my daughter for her to be my tour guide on a trip to Great Britain! We researched the areas our ancestors came from and discovered that the tiny hamlets they emigrated from were not accessible by train or bus. We did not want to risk renting and driving a car in a foreign country so we focused on a line that had lived in the greater London area. My daughter had lived in London while in a study abroad program 17 years before as a college student majoring in humanities. She suggested we take an organized bus tour of Great Britain and Ireland to get a feel for the history and culture of the area. We studied the tours online and signed up for one titled Essential Great Britain. It was a whirlwind sampling of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Our remarkable tour guide explained the history and points of interest as we travelled by coach and ferry, led us on bus and walking tours of different cities and gave us time to explore on our own. He possessed a staggering amount of knowledge and I found the experience exhilarating and at the same time overwhelming.
We scheduled a few extra days before and after the trip to explore London on our own. I have a hodge podge of feelings, impressions and memories and a clearer idea of what life may have been like for mine ancestors. Whenever we could find an internet café or hotel computer, we emailed home to share our adventure with our families. Over and over again I wanted to thank my husband for his thoughtful gift, and even though it was the trip of a lifetime, towards the end, we both yearned for home and family. A volcano had erupted in Iceland while we were there and the ash cloud had drifted over Europe causing airlines to shut down. Luckily, they opened again two days before we were scheduled to fly home and we felt extremely blessed and happy to get safely home on schedule. I love being married to a great man who loves me enough to do all in his power to make my dreams a reality. I LOVED travelling around Great Britain and seeing and learning so much. I also LOVED returning to my husband, family and country. As Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz discovered, there’s “no place like home.”
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