Louisiana writes a letter to her friend in Soulsbysville, California, and tells her about their upcoming cruise to Alaska and other things.
Monday, April 5, 2004 (only THREE more days until we go to Alaska!!)~
Dearest Kendra~
Hello! This is your new friend in Tennessee, Louisiana Sandusky, writing.
How are you doing? How are the girls doing? Hope they (and you) are all doing about as well as can be expected! We are all doing well, but in a few days (in fact, in just three more days!), Bill, Johnny, Ronee', and myself are going to take a cruise to Alaska. We will be gone for two weeks, so I figured that I had better write to you before we leave on Thursday and while I have some time to take a break from packing some last minute items. This is something that Bill and myself have wanted to do for some time, but because of the demands and the special needs of some of the kids (medical emergencies, kids getting sick, or the addition of kids to the family, etc.), we had been unable to go on vacation until now (we HAVE been going to Fan Fair and to the Breaux Bridge [La.] Crawfish Festival every year, but that is something we have always done; we are going again this year); and besides, we had to wait until there were some good deals on cruises; and when we finally found a good deal, we decided to act on it; and now, as a result, we are going to Alaska!
Why Alaska, you ask. Well, because of several reasons, actually. We wanted to go somewhere where it wasn't TOO hot, and we wanted to go somewhere where we could learn to appreciate the natural beauty and see sights we have never seen before. We heard from friends who HAD been to Alaska about how beautiful Alaska is, so we decided to go there instead of places like Mexico, the Carribbean, or the Antiguas. Plus my daughter Ronee' is "aurora crazy", and I hear that the aurora borealis is really spectacular up there; so I wanted to go there, so she could see the auroras at their best. They say that the late winter/early spring is the best time to go see the aurora borealis; so we figured that now was as good a time as any to go to Alaska. And besides, maybe this will shut her up. She has been driving us INSANE with her "aurora obsession", and we figured that this would be a good way to cure her aurora fixation! LOL Johnny also wants to see the auroras, but nothing like Ronee' does!
We tried to get some deals to see if we could take the entire family, but the truth of the matter is, we are unable to take all 50 kids to Alaska. We wanted to, believe you me, we DID! But we added up the totals, and the final totals of the cost to take all 50 kids on the cruise was mind-boggling, and even the cheapest fare was not..well, CHEAP. In fact, it was very expensive, way too expensive for OUR liking! So after many tears and hours of talking and praying, we (Bill and myself) decided on taking our first adopted children, Johnny and Ronee'. Johnny just may not be around next year, and we wanted to take him with us to Alaska while he IS able to still go, and of course, you know about Ronee' and her being in love with the Northern Lights; so she was a likely candidate right from the get-go! Of course, the other kids are happy for us, but deep in their eyes, you can tell that they are mad or jealous that we didn't take them; but they understand that they can't get out of school; so they have to stay behind. Besides, the older kids can handle things while Bill and I are away, and they will have to deal with two less kids, so they will get a break from Johnny and Ronee'; and Johnny and Ronee' will get a break from their brothers and sisters! So it works out for the best both ways!
We will be flying from Nashville on Thursday at 4 from Nashville International Airport (we have to be at the airport TWO HOURS EARLY, due to security reasons!), and then we will fly to San Francisco, California, where we will then go to the shipyard and get on the Disney Cruise Ship; and from there we will sail on the ocean to Sitka, Alaska. From Sitka, we will go to Anchorage, where we will be for three days; and we can do anything we want for those three days. We will spend the days in Anchorage with some friends of ours, Jenna Aurora Whitson and her fiance', Michael Doucet; and while in Anchorage, they will, no doubt, be entertaining us. LOL Bill and the kids (Johnny and Ronee') have heard so much about both Jenna and Michael, but they haven't met them, and now they will get that chance. I imagine that both Jenna and Michael are plumb excited about our coming to Anchorage, and we are excited at the thought of staying with them. We will probably go shopping (LOTS of shopping, mind you!!), out to eat, or see the sights; and then, after that, on the third day, we will go back to the ship, in Sitka, and we will go to other parts of Alaska and see more of the countryside and the majestic beauty of our 49th state. We may see animals like caribou, moose, and other deer, bald and golden eagles, bears (probably only grizzly; don't think there are any polar bears in Anchorage unless we go to the Artic--and I somehow DOUBT we will go THAT far north!-- or to the Anchorage Zoo!), wolves, foxes, rabbits, and other flora and fauna. I know we will probably see many auroric displays; hear that the Northern Lights are very active about now. (They are also active in the fall, like around September, October, or November.) Hopefully, we will see some Native Alaskans, such as the Inuit (formerly called Eskimos) or the Athabascan Indians; and hopefully we will get to learn more about them and their culture. That would be most interesting! We will have plenty of time to tour Alaska, and we are all looking forward to each and every moment we will be spending there!
At church yesterday, our pastor, Pastor Bruce Bilkey and his wife, Toni, and the church elders had us (Bill, Johnny, Ronee', and myself) come down for a special prayer; and as we were being prayed over (by all the pastors, the elders, and members of the congregation, who came up to help), we felt the strong Presence of God; and it was very comforting to know that we were being prayed over for a safe and blessed journey on our cruise; and it felt good to know that many people were lifting us in prayer prior to our going to Alaska. There were a lot of tears shed (mostly by me!), but we felt loved, and we felt the Protective Presence of our Lord God very strongly; so I am sure that our trip to Alaska will go smoothly without ANY problems! (Let's HOPE so!!)
I will surely miss the other kids very much, and I will also miss my daddy and his wife (just like I know they will miss us), and I will also miss seeing my coworkers and being at work, and I will miss the daily contact with patients at the hospital, and I will also miss seeing M'buti and Roberto and their children Jubaki, Eshe', and Kibarake, and I will miss seeing my neighbors and the neighborhood kids. I will miss my house, and I will miss the calamity and chaos that being in a large family often brings. But here is an opportunity to do something we have never done and doing something that Bill and I have talked about since getting married (we both have always wanted to go to Alaska; we just didn't think we would be taking CHILDREN along! LOL). It may be later than what was planned, but at least we are FINALLY going to be able to realize a life-long dream of ours! This is going to be very exciting, and both Bill and myself (as well as Johnny and Ronee') are all looking forward to our upcoming trip to Alaska!!
I will write you while we are in Alaska. I don't know WHEN that will EXACTLY be, but be expecting a postcard from us while we are on vacation, just to let you know that we are thinking of you and the girls. Give all the girls our love, and tell them that if they are good, we may be getting them "a little something" from Alaska! Hope you are feeling better since your shunt replacement surgery, and hope your headaches aren't as severe. Believe you me, I know ALL about headaches; I suffer regularly from migraines or sinus headaches. NOT fun! But I am sure they are NOTHING in comparison to what YOU have had to endure prior to your surgery! Please take care of yourself, Kendra, and know you are being lifted up in prayer at Christ Community Assembly of God! And by us! We may not have met yet, but we already feel as though we already know you, and you are a wonderful person to be taking in girls nobody else would want!
Until the next time I write (from ALASKA someplace!) or you hear from me, take care, and God bless you and all your beautiful daughters! Can't wait to hear from you again!
~With MUCH love,
In His Service,
Your Christian friend in Tennessee, Louisiana.
(((((((((HUGS))))))))) for:
~Keisha;
~Wendy;
~Mia;
~Mariah;
~Sally;
~Sarah;
~Kelly;
~Kimberly;
~Francie;
~Mary; and finally, last (but certainly NOT least!), ~Linda.
And of course, here's some (((EXTRA SPECIAL HUGS))) for you (Kendra)!~
Write to you again soon! Happy Easter to you and yours! Hope it is blessed! (We will celebrate Easter in Alaska, in Anchorage!)
These timeless quotations culled from the celebrated corpus of writings by W.E.B. Du Bois are presented with illuminating introductory essays by Aberjhani. Narration of the Audible book performed by Catherine Byers.
Monday, April 5, 2004 (only THREE more days until we go to Alaska!!)~
