healer
Finding Peace in Chichester, UK
Many research clients have wandered into my life the last seven years. Some create more of a connection than others due to the type of project we work on together. There are clients who want the facts and only the facts. Then there are others who seek to heal things within themselves and their family, often without realizing that is one reason they hired me. When those clients show up, often, a vulnerable exchange takes place between us both. When that happens, we are both affected and both healed, whether we are conscious of it or not.
Those exchanges can take us on powerful journeys we might not otherwise have taken. If we choose the journey.
I had one client this year who truly touched my heart. He had a family member who fought in the 30th Infantry Division during World War II. Together we discovered his story and throughout the process, I found piece of myself that I was waiting to be healed. I also found I was more capable of some things than I thought. We all have those moments when we doubt our capacities and capabilities right? Isn’t it great when someone helps us see we are able to do more than we think we can? Those people show up when we least expect them.
On 2 June, Johan and I were in England. We had driven from Amsterdam to Calais and took the ferry to the White Cliffs of Dover. We arrived the day before in Dover and had a marvelous day exploring. This was my first trip to England and there was a lot to take in. On the 2nd, the plan was for me to drop Johan at a golf course about 30 minutes north of Brighton and then I would drive to Chichester and then to Brighton by the evening.
Let me be honest – at first, the thought of driving on the wrong side of the road in a place I’d never been, was a bit scary. It has been a couple years since I traveled solo in Europe and there was a moment I wondered – can I really do this……by myself!? Well of course I could! I was not about to spend the entire day sitting in a golf clubhouse and told my client I would visit Chichester since the 30th Division had been there.
After breakfast Johan drove us to the golf course and I left him there and was off on my way. We heard there was a RAF museum at Tangmere, which turned out to be on the road to Chichester. I chose to stop there and see what that museum was all about and if it contained anything on the Americans in the area. That will be another article as there was a lot to take in there. I arrived in Chichester after 1:30. It took me quite a while to get there as roads in England are not the same as the Netherlands or the U.S. there are many small country roads and it takes a while to get most places. The drive was incredibly beautiful and relaxing and I had no problems driving on the wrong side of the road. I asked my guides and angels to help me drive and keep me focused. They did a great job.
After Tangmere, I drove to Chichester. My first stop there was the cathedral. The client and I had no idea if his family member had visited the cathedral, but he had been in the area. I also never turn down an opportunity to visit a cathedral.
Chichester Cathedral is large. Not as large as Canterbury Cathedral, but still large. It is a place where you can find serenity and a bit of yourself around each corner or hidden within a sunlit prayer room. Like any cathedral, everywhere you look there is something intricate and beautiful to see. There are paintings, tombs, stained glass, arches, floors, signs, candles, flags and banners for military regiments, and people wandering through it all. Of course there were places to light candles, which I always do. Often to Mother Mary as she guides me, but also to Archangel Michael when possible, or military shrines. I was able to light candles for the 30th Division soldiers, who were definitely there with me in the cathedral. I guess I wasn’t as alone as I thought I was.
I’ve always found these sacred places excellent places to write, pray, and release all those things that no longer serve me. The prayer room pictured to the right was one area of the cathedral I could have sat for hours writing, looking at the light play with the colors in the stained glass, and just BE. How often do we stop and just BE? Not often enough.
One part of the cathedral that felt connected to me was the Arundel Tomb. There is a poem by Philip Larkin, An Arundel Tomb, written about the Earl and his Countess with joined hands in death (uncommon for this to be on a tomb at that time.) Made me think of my knight and our past life together. That could have been us.
The last line of that poem is, “What will survive of us is love.” Beautiful.
As is the case with most places I visit, time was limited and I had not eaten lunch yet. FYI – in England at most museums, cathedrals, or places like these, if you do not get into their cafes for lunch prior to 2:00 p.m. you will probably be out of luck and get the bottom of the pan of what’s left or coffee. I was able to get a little lunch just before they put the pots away. Then I took a walk through the town center before discovering there are gardens on the cathedral grounds!
After lunch I visited the Bishop’s Garden. Words cannot accurately describe how beautiful and peaceful it was. One cannot walk into the garden without smiling, feeling joyful, smelling numerous flower scents, and finding some peace in the sunshine. The garden seemed to go on forever, though I did not have the time to explore every inch. Perhaps another trip. The photo I took with the flowers and cathedral behind me almost looks as if I was imposed into a painting. The whole area has a magical fairy tale feel to it.
So what did I learn this day? How did I heal?
I remembered I was fully capable of traveling on my own and driving in a foreign land on the wrong side of the road. Patience, the willingness to ask the universe for help, a good GPS system, and plenty of time to get where I needed to go was important.
I was able to just BE in the cathedral and gardens. There was no one asking me to move on to the next place or see the next thing. There was just time. We all need that time alone no matter how much we love our [fill in the blank….husband, kids, wife, parents….] That time helps us grow, heal, resolve things within our hearts and souls, and discover pieces of ourselves we thought were missing or never discovered.
I learned I love nature more than I thought! I’m not a woman who likes to go play in the dirt and get her hands all dirty. That’s never been me. A few months ago I learned I had the capacity to communicate with trees, plants, and the earth. Sitting in the Bishop’s Garden felt so joyful. I even wrote about it in my journal.
I’m sitting in the Bishop’s Garden at Chichester Cathedral. Bids are singing, and the sun shining with wispy clouds. Behind me is the cathedral and so many beautiful flowers. Heaven. I wish I didn’t have to leave soon. Probably take an hour to get to Brighton and need to check in before Johan arrives.
When I walked into the garden, my heart sang! It felt so good to be here. One can’t help but smile here. There are roses everywhere you look and peonies and other flowers I can’t name.
The gardens go on forever but I don’t have time to walk them all. I’m content now sitting here. I walked part of the garden earlier and then walked up to part of the old city wall. Left the gardens to photograph more of the exterior of the cathedral and walk to the gate. Then I came back.
Finally, visiting the cathedral and gardens showed me again how much I love my job and that I would like to do more of this. Visiting places client’s family members have been when they cannot. Walking where my client’s family member was, I took photos and videos for him, which allowed him to almost be there. Though he was there in spirit.
Thank you to the client who inspired this trip to Chichester. You touched my heart and helped me grow.
Would you like to know how we can help you research your family’s soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine and walk in their footsteps? Contact us to learn more.
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
What Are We Creating?
It’s a beautiful day in the Netherlands. Our staff at the WWII Research and Writing Center have been busy creating new things. We can’t wait to share!
What are we working on now?
Here’s a quick video to tell you.
Jennifer Holik from Amsterdamse Bos, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Spiral of Healing
The longer I continue on my spiritual journey, the more I heal, and the more aware I become. Being an empath, I tend to pick up everything from everyone and everywhere. I’ve been told and read many times, that healing is like a spiral. We start at one spot, one event, one moment in time, and work through and release some pain. This could be from a past life or this life.
Then we spiral around the staircase, choose another path – right or left – and something else appears in our lives that trigger something else. I often wonder in these moments, ‘Didn’t I already heal that?’ Then usually I realize it is a deeper issue than what I previously healed. Often I’ve healed something related to the issue that keeps appearing as a distraction to keep me from dealing with the actual deeper, more painful issue that arrives.
Then there are times when I wonder, what happened to me that I could handle something in the past and now it triggers terrible things in my body and soul. I had an experience like this in London last week.
Imperial War Museum – Holocaust Exhibit – 8 June 2017
Johan and I went to the Imperial War Museum in London on 8 June 2017. We had a short visit in London and since I had never been there, Johan showed me a lot of things as we walked and walked. I have a better idea of what I want to see when we return in the fall. The only place we actually entered to spend time was the IWM London before we left the city to go to Canterbury. The museum is incredible with a lot of great artifacts from World War I and World War II. Even some things coming more to the present day, though we chose not to tour those areas. Our focus is World War I and World War II and we had limited time.
Near the end of our visit there was one area I still wanted to see. The Holocaust floor. Johan chose not to walk through since he had seen it, so I went alone. That was fine because sometimes I prefer to be alone when viewing certain things related to war. Having been to Dachau in 2015 and not having a massive triggered panic/anxiety attack there, I thought I would be fine in this exhibit. I know a lot about the Holocaust. I’ve channeled some of the victims in my writing. I’ve seen other exhibits and even been in a camp. Why should this exhibit cause any issues for me? Yet, it did.
It is important to note, no photographs were allowed in the exhibit. I’m not sure why this is the policy as I would think people should know more about the Holocaust, but that is the policy at IWM.
Moving through the initial floor of the two in which the exhibit was held, I saw the history of Europe and Hitler that led up to World War II and the formation of the camps. I was fine through this part and knew a lot of this history. I continued on past a group of noisy school children and walked downstairs to the second part of the exhibit.
At the beginning of this floor was a cattle car used to transport people to the camps. Something said to touch it, so I did. I’m able to pick up things from photographs, objects, nature, etc. At that point I became aware of a flood of things, including so many emotions from people connected to this car and the Holocaust. I had already shielded myself so I wouldn’t pick up everything I encountered in the museum, but it wasn’t enough. I began to feel panicked, anxious, nauseous, and generally ill. Moving on and using all the Access Consciousness tools I could, I still could not Return To Sender, all the things being thrown on me. I still felt uncomfortable and on the verge of what some may call a panic attack.
Seeing the striped uniforms and piles and piles of shoes did not help the rising panic, nausea, and anxiety flooding my system. I had to get out of there as quickly as possible.
It took several minutes after I left the exhibit before I felt relatively normal again and had convinced my soul not to flee. I hate these moments when I pick up so much my soul wishes it could leave my body and I want to jump around to keep it in there and release the energy. I hate those moments that panic sets in and it isn’t even mine, but I absorb it and no amount of Return To Sender gets rid of it.
This makes me wonder, why was I able two years ago to move through Dachau on the 70th Anniversary of the liberation of the camp without these intense feelings and not move through this exhibit the same way?
They say healing comes in spirals. What was unleashed since my visit to Dachau in my soul? In the world? Am I THAT much more aware and conscious now than then? Yes. Have I claimed more of my empathic and healing abilities. Yes. Do the dead seek me out because they know I will help? Yes.
So the question I must now answer for myself is, how do I best protect myself from all of this and not get lost, while still healing myself and the world? How do I best travel through these places and moments in time so I can educate the world and not lose my soul? Spiral…..spiral……spiral……..
Have you experienced these things in your travels? As a healer, how do you handle all the things you become aware of?
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
Jennifer’s European Adventures 26 May 2017
There is so much happening on this trip to Europe that I’m struggling a bit to keep up and document it all. As I write this, we just returned from 10 days in England. It was my first time there and so much happened. More on that in a future post. For now, let’s return to Friday, 26 May 2017, when we drove from Amsterdam to Thirimont, Belgium to be in the town where a client’s brother was Killed In Action (KIA) on 13 January 1945.
We had a lovely drive down, passing through the Dutch countryside to the Belgian border. Once we reached Maastricht, Netherlands, the landscape changed from all flat to slightly rolling hills. From there we made our way southeast to Thirimont, where the 30th Division had a massive battle for this and two other towns nearby between 13-15 January 1945.
The town is located on a hill, with a good view all around. This is probably why the Germans took the town. Strategic location and there are crossroads here. Today, the town is all new. Nothing, it seems, remains from WWII, though by all accounts, the battle wiped out whatever was there before. G Company of the 30th Division was almost completely wiped out here on 13 January 1945. This was the day William E. Jones, Jr. was KIA.
William’s IDPF stated he was killed in Waimes. If you think about how the U.S. sets up cities, counties, states, Waimes is more like the county, though there is a town named Waimes just 8 km up the road. By the unit records, it appears Thirimont was William’s death site. I took a video for my client as we drove the main road through town. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. Almost no traffic meant a relatively quiet video. After our drive through town, we made our way to Waimes to see what that was like. Again, it is all new. We saw almost no trace of the past. In both places, I felt nothing. Just dead energy which I thought was unusual since so many died in these areas.
From Waimes we headed back to the Netherlands to Margraten, where we planned to spend a couple of days and attend the Memorial Day service at the cemetery. Interestingly, we chose to make our way to Malmedy to see the site of the massacre. I had not yet been there.
The soldiers in the area had other plans for us and sent us back the way we came into Thirimont and Waimes, through Ligneuville. The road to Malmedy was blocked so we detoured to see if Waze would take us where we wanted to go. It did not, but instead took us through forests near Malmedy where the soldiers were out and waiting to be heard. I couldn’t believe all the auras in the photos I took as we drove through there.
Had there been a place to stop and walk around that area, I would have loved that. I think many stories would have emerged onto my journal pages from soldiers lining up to talk. Sadly, there was nowhere to stop.
We kept driving and later stopped in Aubel, Belgium to photograph the 30th Division Monument there. It is a tall monument with flags on either side. This is not far from Henri-Chapelle cemetery.
Our day ended with our return to Hotel Groot Welsden in Margraten. We had a relaxing drink in the garden before dinner. We discussed our plans for Saturday and Sunday and it was off to bed.
Have you been to these places with your research? What did you experience? Were you in other places nearby? For what Divisions? What did you experience there? I’d love to hear your stories.
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
Jennifer’s European Adventures 22-24 May 2017
The weekend is over and jet lag has subsided. Hooray! Now what is possible for this new week?
One benefit of being in business for yourself is the flexibility to work anywhere. Have Wifi and computer? Check. Check. I can work. I spent Monday working on client projects and my new books while in Utrecht. After work, Johan and I headed to Naarden for a quiet evening.
Naarden is a favorite place for us to visit and near to another favorite location, the castle Muiderslot. Naarden is fortified village (Google it to see photos from above.) You can walk through the entire village in less than an hour. You can also go up on top of the fortifications and walk then also walk the perimeter.
The village is old and beautiful. You can park on old cobbled streets or outside the bridges into the village. The views from the top of the fortifications are breathtaking. We took a long walk around and then had drinks and snacks (bitterballen!) in an outdoor cafe. What a perfect way to end the day.
Tuesday I worked at home and worked on my books a little. Later in the day Johan and I opened up a box of decadent chocolates our friends brought us Saturday.
Wednesday was a really fun day because I got to go to ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) to spend time with my sister in-law. Den Bosch is my favorite city in the Netherlands. It has Sint-Jan Cathedral, which I visit every time I am in the city. There is such peace there. I love the stained glass, smell of incense, lighting a candle for Mother Mary in the back of the church and, when it is open, walking through the back of the cathedral to see the niches for different saints. I was lucky that this time the back of the church was open. I was in Den Bosch four other times and only one of those visits was the back open.
There was a market in the square and my sister in-law and I had a lovely lunch outside. Lunch is so much better outdoors don’t you think?
Before we left the city and I went home, we stopped at Jan de Groot to pick up Appelflappen and Bosche Bollen. Appelflapp is a flaky pastry, usually triangle shaped with apples and cinnamon inside and covered in heavy sugar. YUM! Bosche Bol is something everyone should have if they love chocolate and cream. These are about the size of your fist or slightly larger, are like what we know as cream puffs, covered in a dark chocolate and filled with whipped cream. Jan de Groot makes the best. I’ll have another one before I fly back to Chicago when a woman comes over from the U.S. to meet with her Dutch ‘family’ and we get to spend some time together.
My journey has only just begun but more adventures await. Soon it will be time to head to Belgium and then stay in Margraten for Memorial Day weekend. I wonder what and who will show up……..
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
Jennifer’s European Adventures 19 – 21 May 2017
It’s so great to be back in Europe for the second time this year. Johan and I are going back and forth regularly now and having all kinds of adventures.
I flew to Amsterdam and arrived Friday 19 May. Spent a very quiet day at home while Johan went to the office. I did what everyone says not to do…..sleep! Life in Chicago has been so busy with work, my boys, sports, school, you name it, that I have been a bit run down. After I had lunch after my arrival, my body said SLEEP! I had the most fabulous nap with our furry cat Memphis for almost three hours. After that I felt human and the jet lag was much less than it would have been. Listening to your body is so important regardless of what anyone else says.
Saturday was a quiet day and I did a bit of shopping and had lunch in an outdoor café. I love the cafés here because so many have outdoor seating, often with a great view. In most, you can sit for hours, which we often do. Saturday evening we had dinner with a couple of friends, one of whom is the historian for the 94th Infantry Division Historical Society. We shared a lot of soldier stories over the course of the evening. It was fantastic.
Sunday we went to Amsterdam for a bit of shopping, lunch, and wandering. I wanted to stop in the P.W. Akkerman Fountain Pen shop in Amsterdam since we were unable to go to the P.W. Akkerman we prefer in The Hague. Our routine is to go to The Hague the day after I fly in and I always buy a new fountain pen and inks. Patricia is one woman who works at the store in The Hague and knows our love story. She is always so happy, friendly, and helpful in picking out pens, helping fix older pens, choosing inks, and catching up on life. We really enjoy visiting the store (which is old and has a fantastic atmosphere,) and speaking with her. Sadly, our experience at the Amsterdam store was nothing like The Hague. The staff seemed uninterested in helping us, was unfriendly, and rude. I will not return to the Amsterdam store and instead, wait until I can visit Patricia in The Hague store.
We did have a lovely walk around some of the centre and had a nice lunch in a shop across from a church that is now part of the University of Amsterdam. From our table we watched a group of people dance, chant, bow, and sing, in a circle outside the church. They were doing a peace ceremony with flags from countries around the world. It was cool to watch.
Before we drove home we stopped at the Begijnhof to take a short walk. It was very crowded and noisy there as lots of tour groups had come out since it was a beautiful day. Johan took me there last year over the winter when it was very quiet. Usually it is a place of peace and quiet and you don’t hear the city noise once you are in the courtyard.
To leave the noise, we entered the chapel, which I had not yet been in. I love churches and cathedrals in Europe and visit as many as possible. I prefer Catholic Churches because they are often more lavish, contain more stained glass windows which play with the light that shines through, Mother Mary is there and I always light and candle and have a talk with her. They are also places to just stop, BE, release things that don’t serve me, and receive healing and awareness.
After our visit to the chapel we headed home. It was a great start to my time in Europe. I wonder what else will show up that I am not expecting!
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
The Path and Impact of your Research
Exploring our lives and those of our family members is an activity many people engage in today, often as genealogical or military research. Some explore their lives through various energetic and healing modalities. Most people tend to stay on one path – that of collecting facts (names, dates, and places.) These are entered in a family tree or notes for a project or book. Usually only information which is easy to obtain, or on the surface, is explored. Changing paths or going deeper into our life and those of our family members is often avoided. The path is often seen as a dangerous, dark, painful detour in life, that many choose to avoid.
Why is it most people do not go deeper in their research? Are they unaware of the infinite possibilities of understanding and healing available? Are they afraid to walk the other path, which will lead to greater understanding of themselves and their family members? Are they afraid to walk into the possibility of darkness emerging even when healing can occur?
Have you ever considered the true impact of researching the lives of your family members? Did you ever notice you may begin with one individual and move through the process or down the rabbit hole and end up in a place you never expected to be?
My family and military research has always started with the idea of researching one individual. It usually turns out that others will show up to guide the research and take me down the other path which contains the real story of what happened to them and the family. It is on that path the darkness often reveals itself and if I move through it, light and peace emerge at the end of the road. As I move through that darkness, the darkness long hidden in me often emerges and demands resolution. This has not been an easy process the last several years. I’ve gone through a lot of pain, tears, darkness, and loss of people in my life. I continue to come out of each dark period stronger, more confident, more understanding of the people in my life and myself. Healing takes place in ways it couldn’t otherwise.
I have had many clients who start a project focusing on one person – a father, brother, mother – who either died in World War II or returned home. They begin asking for the general service history of the individual. Maybe they have worked on their family history or they reached a point in their lives they want to know what really happened.
Through the course of research, I discuss findings with the client and ask questions. Often, the questions are more personal to help the client open up to a level of understanding of the individual in question, himself, the research, and how it affected the family, that otherwise may not occur. Through this process, he walks down a path of discovery and healing he never expected.
What happens when we follow the other path and the energy of a project? Who else shows up on our journey? Often it is someone we never expected and long deceased. Sometimes pain emerges from issues long put to rest, or so we think. Time has a way of healing, and also releasing the pain, exactly when we are ready to heal it.
Are you ready to walk the other path? Ask the more difficult questions? Move into the darkness so you can emerge again in the light? This fall I will be releasing new books and programs to help you do this. You may also experience the process by working with me on a client project. Contact me to find out what’s possible.
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
Traveling in their Footsteps 14 October 2015
April 13, 2015 I made my first trip to Europe. Three weeks, six countries, and I saw five minutes of a lot of things. It was the most incredible trip I had ever taken. An experience for which I will be forever grateful. Changed my life, my perspective, and my work. That trip also took me on a spiritual journey unlike any other and opened my heart and soul up more than it had been. The soldiers who were already communicating with me, were now doing so at a higher level. It was a little crazy, unnerving at times, and amazingly cool. The writing I did during and after that trip allowed me to heal things within myself but also others through my books and programs.
Before I left Amsterdam on 6 May, the universe already had plans to bring me back in October. Having never traveled solo overseas, this idea was both scary and exciting. A good friend had been telling me for a year to travel alone, but it wasn’t time yet. I wasn’t ready until October 2015. Too many other things had to be let go of and healed or written before I could go.
On 13 October 2015, I boarded a plane in Chicago and flew back to Amsterdam, alone. Sitting on the plane, I knew the next three weeks would change my life in unexpected ways, bringing blessings, sadness, joy, inspiration, incredible experiences, relaxation, new opportunities, many new friends, an opportunity for balance, and the opportunity to release things which no longer served me. The trip also provided another major spiritual shift in my life. I invite you to travel with me in my soldier’s footsteps.
13-14 October 2015
Planning a European trip has its challenges from booking the flight, car rental, places to stay, and what you want to do. Add a layer of lecturing four times and another layer of scheduling time to meet a lot of Facebook friends who do WWII research, while I was there. I went with the flow, which a year ago I would not have done. My schedule changed daily the last two weeks before I departed, often between 3 and 4 a.m. as my friends in Europe would message me to confirm or arrange something. I even finalized details of my final speaking engagement right before I boarded the plane! While some people (and the me a year ago) might not have done well with this ‘go with the flow’ attitude, it absolutely worked for me.
I departed Chicago after 6 p.m. and arrived in Amsterdam by 9:30 a.m. their time (2:30 a.m. our time.) Made my way through customs and headed across the city-like Schiphol Airport to the car rental area. It all went smoothly. Soon I was on my way to my first destination, about 3.5 hours away, BASTOGNE!
As I drove south though the Netherlands into Belgium, it snowed! Not much, just enough to cover the trees and look beautiful and magical. Driving after being up, technically at 2:30 a.m. is not so fun, but there are nice gas/restaurant station areas along the highway in the Netherlands. These are excellent places to stop for coffee and a yummy lunch. Stopping half-way to Bastogne as the snow fell was a good idea. I counted my many blessings over that lunch and pinched myself a lot because I couldn’t believe I was actually in Europe by myself!
When I arrived in Bastogne, I checked into the Hotel Melba. This is where everyone said to stay. I’m glad I listened to their advice. The staff was wonderful and helpful, room was comfortable, with a view from the back of old homes and a field with donkeys. They could be heard at all times of the day.
I spent part of two days in Bastogne in May, so had an idea of where things were. Since it was late afternoon, to stay awake, I took a walk down to the tank and main street. First stop, with my journal in hand, was the Boulangerie Courtois for a coffee and piece of something decadent. I stayed in the bakery about an hour, again counting my blessings and pinching myself, while writing and enjoying my dessert.
When the dessert was gone I walked back to the hotel by way of the 101st Airborne Museum – Le Mess – probably my favorite place in Bastogne. I did not go inside because they had just closed. My visit was planned for Friday. Instead, I returned to my room to catch up on email and prepare for the next day when I would meet Tom Scholtes and Doug Mitchell and see the Sauer River Crossing sites and visit my cousin James Privoznik in Luxembourg Cemetery.
Hotel Melba has a restaurant and I went down before dinner to enjoy a Jupiler beer at the bar while listening to a conversation by an American family. Dinner was a fantastic steak with loads of vegetables. I enjoyed it immensely while again, listening to the conversations of those around me. The American family was seated at the table next to me and I heard about their visit to areas around Bastogne. Now, I used to be quiet and not interrupt total strangers conversations, but we all grow and change.
I heard the son say they would skip the museum in Bastogne the next day and at that point I had to interrupt and ask, which museum. He replied Le Mess. At that point I inserted myself into the conversation and told them they absolutely could not miss Le mess. That led to a longer conversation about why we were both in Europe, what I did for work, and them assuring me they would visit the museum. At that point, I finished my coffee and went upstairs to bed.
The son and I are now Facebook friends and we followed the others trips and had interesting conversations. You never know who you will meet when you travel. Or how it will change your plans and experiences.
At the end of my first very long travel day I was completely content. Look what I had done! Traveling solo! Who knew what the rest of the three weeks would bring. I was sure as I drifted to sleep, thanking the Gods and Angels for the amazing day, the trip would change my life and in some way, the lives of all those I would meet or encounter, including my army of soldiers, sailors, and Marines, who are always with me.
© 2015 Jennifer Holik