19 years ago today, and about this time, we landed in Belgium with our 5 children for a 3 year tour. I remember the airport was a mob scene and we had our carts and luggage and children and had no idea who was meeting us. And literally that's all I remember of that first day. Oh, except that when I looked at the washing machine in our temporary apartment, and it was oh so complicated to work and the directions were in French, I was hoping they would give me a ticket back home...I would have taken it and gone back to the US gladly!
Tom was sick (undiagnosed lyme's disease) and some of the kids had chicken pox....or was that an earlier flight to SLC from Va? It was the middle of a cold, dark, wet winter. The first day of school was Valentine's Day for the kids and the teachers made sure that all the classmates made cards for them.
I remember the mean witch upstairs that kept yelling at me in French b/c my children would ride the old elevator without an adult. I remember looking out of the window of the apartment downtown and wondering if I would ever be brave enough to drive. I remember the first time seeing the Grand Place, and our first night to leave Dan in charge while Tom and I went to dinner. We ordered a dish "American" and it was awful. The rare bad food ordered in a Belgian restaurant. I asked them to cook the fish and they were offended.
It all seems like a dream. And in fact it has been a dream to live here for so long. I was talking to Dad at lunch and we both said we would do it all over again if given the chance. (Although we would make different financial decisions!) I just had to share my thoughts on this our 19th anniversary of living in Belgium.
Oh, and I included a picture of myself just to prove that I was once young! And Mel, I just wanted you to see they young "Gunzy" as well!
7 comments:
19 years!! as opposed to 3. Wow. Life never plays out as planned, but it's a good thing living in Brussels got better for you. Thanks for sharing those memories.
Mel...go back and look at Gunzy! You saw this post before I got the pictures out...
These photos are HILARIOUS! 1989. How crazy. Dan's stylin' part right up the middle, Natalie with the diaper bag ready for church, Jake and ol' Gunzy (sp?), and Seth's quirky smile with those biker shorts on. What a handful we must have been in that apartment right downtown, but you're still smiling!
I liked reading those memories! Seth has a funny memory from his first day at school in Belgium. The photos are great too!
That was so fun to read esp since my memories of those days are hazy. I do remember those biker shorts though! I also remember riding in the elevator in the TVAs.
Dan and I had a great time looking at these pictures. He had some great stories to tell. WOW! its amazing you survived those first few months and live to tell about it!! What a super-woman. I love it when time reveals that we have made the right decisions after all. Well done.
Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm glad to hear that there are some memories out there on that occasion. Makes me smile.
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