The Final Wrap Up

Wow, it's been 3 months since I've last written. I suppose that goes to show how flat out busy I've been since leaving France and re-entering the US on July 14th. This very well could be my last entry, as I am exactly 1 week away from landing back in California. Perhaps one more to sum everything up and wrap it with a bow, we'll see.

Sooooo . . . My time in France was lovely. My main goal was to simply spend time with my grandfather Charles, who is now 91. Unfortunately, he's having significant trouble with his short term memory as the effects of age are beginning to show, but his wit and his charm are as strong as ever. We sat on his patio, overlooking the valley from the hillside on which he and Aby - his wife - live. Wine and cheese daily, with delicious home cooked meals at night. It was fantastic to do virtually nothing except shoot the breeze with him. I was also quite lucky to reconnect with their daughter and my aunt Isabelle. Isabelle is 30, speaks four languages fluently, and definitely embodies that Ramsden toughness that both my grandfather and father seem to have. She and I hadn't seen one another since we were children, and in my time their I made a new friend in her. It truly was a lovely time with family, a visit I will always remember.

I landed at JFK in NY on the 14th. On my flights from Nice and Dublin to get there, I sat next to a very engaging and fun French gal my age by the name of Catherine. Her very first words to me were "Can I write something in your journal?" as she noticed I was making notes in my journal about my time with my grandfather. She must have felt inspired as she jotted down on the top of my page "Wisdom begins with wonder -Socrates." My kind of person, simply going straight for the human spirit with her introduction. Turns out for the past couple of years she has been teaching science in Houston and loving every minute of it. She had a 12 hour layover in New York, so upon arrival we took a shuttle into the city, dropped our bags, and went for dinner and midnight stroll in the southern end of Central Park. She took off for Newark airport at 3:30am. I have a feeling she'll be a friend for a long time.

The next 3 days in New York were spent doing some sightseeing and visiting with my best mate Mike and his girlfriend Kat from California. Mike's from Connecticut a couple hours away, and they were spending a few days in the city. It was great to connect with him for the first time in about 10 months. After NY, I headed down to DC for my first visit of the nation's capital. Gorgeous time of year to be there. Thanks to the miracle of Facebook, I stayed initially with a friend from high school who I hadn't seen since 1992 probably - Julie Marshall. Julie is PhD in economics and a financial analyst on Capitol Hill. Whenever a Senator wants to pass a bill, she and her office assess the financial impact and credibility of it. Julie was an amazing host - she took me on a walking tour of the Capitol and the National Mall, bought me a pre-paid metro pass and took me to a Washington Nationals game with a bunch of her friends. Big ups to you Julie Marshall! Can't wait until my next visit. The second half of my DC stay was with the lovely Malia Fisher - clothing designer extraordinaire! Malia and I know one another through Mike, who used to live in DC before coming West to California. We took in a fair bit of fine dining and I got in some much needed resting time while she was at work. I didn't get to do one tenth of what DC had to offer.

After DC I headed down to Myrtle Beach to help run the Youth Sahavas youth retreat that I have been involved with over the years. Was wonderful to connect with old friends, but the biggest icing on the cake was the reunion with Javier, Joia and Camila Nunez from Buenos Aires. Throughout the year I spear headed a fund raising campaign to get them to Myrtle Beach for the event. It was an extremely emotional reunion for all of us. I haven't felt joy that like in a very long time. They are forever my family, and with any grace I theirs. It was a lovely week for all of them, and people who knew their father came out of the woodwork to meet the children of their dear friend. They were welcomed with open arms into the US Meher Baba community, got to spend time with their American brothers from their father's first marriage, and they traveled the US. It was an amazing honor and joy to be involved with helping them come to the US. Truly amazing!

After Myrtle Beach, I headed 5 hours West to Asheville, NC. I went for the opening weekend of Roz Taubman and Bobby Buga's restaurant, Black Bird. Delicious southern inspired gourmet cuisine, Blackbird is simply a phenomenal restaurant, unmatched in quality and price for the area. Well, as it turns out Roz's daughter and my dear friend Molly and her husband Meherwan were in the midst of getting a restaurant of their own going. They had just signed a lease on a prime location in downtown Asheville to open an Indian street food place. The idea was inspired, and well thought out - something that would do really well in Asheville. Since I had time in the schedule, I offered my services to Molly that weekend. I could help them get whatever done they needed to get the restaurant up and running. "How much work do you have?" I asked. "About four to five hours a day for the next two weeks!" "Great!" I said, "Let's do it!" Well, 8 weeks and 10 hour+ days later, Chai Pani was finally born. For two months I cleaned, lifted, painted, gutted, scraped, stained and a million other things. There were tons of friends who participated in the work too, which made it incredibly fun. It was an amazing time, one which I don't have the time to completely recount. In the first couple weeks of being in Asheville I returned to DC for another 5 day visit, mainly to visit my dear old friend Aubrey and her family and get to see some more of the museums and monuments. And, while staying in Asheville I passed the second of two licensing exams for the CA Marriage and Family Therapist license . . . without studying for over a year! It was a beautiful fluke perhaps, or just a sign of my relaxation as I wasn't even attached to or focused on my chosen career field at that time. Either way, I'll be returning to California newly licensed and ready to hit the job market. All in all it was an incredible two months, and a perfect way to end what has been an incredible 13 months.

I left Asheville last on Thursday the 8th and spent a long weekend in Myrtle Beach to simply decompress and relax on the Center. I'm currently in Fayetville, Arkansas visiting some friends from the Meher Baba community Jessica Bender and her father Joe. I'll be here through the weekend and flying back to San Diego early Tuesday morning. I am very much looking forward to connecting back with family and getting back to work. I imagine I will offer one more entry, but for this world stepper, things are coming to a close. To any and all of you who have been along for the ride, many thanks. It's been a pleasure sharing the journey.

Best wishes from Fayetville, and soon to be San Diego!