Boomerang

We all said our unique goodbyes these evening at the farewell dinner. For me, I'll relate this story that I wasn't able to get through due to a rush of emotions. When I interviewed for GSE, one question was if I could endure day after day of little sleep, constant motion, information overload, meeting new people every day and dealing with the occassional bump in the program. "You mean a Hayes family vacation?" I responded. (Hi, Mom and Dad! Thank you.) Back in 1987, when I was much younger, my parents decided it was time for their two sons to explore another country - apart from Canada, our friendly neighbor to the north. Being here today brought back bits and pieces of a whirlwind, two-week car tour with stops in - if my then-8-year-old brain remembers correctly: Iceland (ok, just the airport), Luxemburg, Belgium, Normandy, Dover, London, Edinburgh, Inverness, Wales, Barnestable... and, somehow, Paris... you get the point. Two weeks. 2 weeks! Besides the packed schedule, what did all this have in common with the last month? Rotary. When my mother was young, her parents hosted an exchange student from South America who, in 1987, lived in London and had two boys the same ages as my brother and me. Like our hosts in the past month, this London-via-US-from-Southern Hemisphere family welcomed my family to stay for several days and helped us explore London and its environs. Once again, lovely people from England - this time in the northeast - have opened their homes and helped me experience their lives. I will always welcome them to my home as they have me and the rest of the 2009 GSE team from District 7170. I look forward to returning to "the best kept secret in England" someday with my family and to starting the circle again. -TH