This is a very different Memory Lane Monday post. It consists of a succession of memories, starting from a few years ago up to very recently. Together the memories tell the story of our family’s situation today. Ready?
Memory: 2/26/2017
On this date Big Eagle and I said good-bye to our daughter and her family before they left Houston to live in Nigeria for 4 years. This is the last picture I took of them before their move.
Memory: 10/2/2018
In the fall of 2018, Big Eagle and I were planning to make the trip to Nigeria to visit Cara, Paul, and the girls in their new location. By this time they’d had plenty of time to settle in and get used to the new culture in which they were living. Our plan was to go in the early spring of 2019. However, on this date we received word from Cara that Nigerian elections were being held at that time, and travel would be severely restricted. Often the elections end up being postponed…sometimes more than once. So delaying until after the elections wasn’t an option either, because it wasn’t certain when they would actually end up being held. So we decided to wait one more year and go in the spring of 2020. (I bet you can see where this is heading now. 😉)
Memory: 12/17/2019
Big Eagle and I went to get our vaccinations and came home with our yellow cards. We were really doing this! We were really getting ready to go to Africa!
Memory: 12/24/2019
I remember going to DFW airport on Christmas Eve, so I could do my Global Entry interview. A week or so later, my Global Entry card came in the mail. It’s weird, because Big Eagle applied for his global entry before I applied for mine. However he is still waiting for his approval to come through. I understand it’s not unusual for approval to come months later. Don’t know how I got so lucky on this one. Regardless, it was one more thing done (at least for me) that we wanted to have in place before our trip.
Memory: 2/28/2020
I remember talking on the phone with Pat (Big Eagle’s mom), and she asked if I thought the coronavirus might have any effect on our Africa travel plans. I totally discounted that idea without a second thought. What an idiot I was! In hindsight, I now know I should have entertained that possibility. She obviously had a better handle on what was going on than I did.
Memory: 3/11/2020
I remember that our hope of being able to carry out our travel plans was dwindling. Our flight to Nigeria connected through London. This was the day that travel from European countries was halted, but the U.K. was an exception. That was the thread that kept us thinking that MAYBE we’d still be able to go.
Memory: 3/14/2020
This was the day that the travel ban was extended to the U.K. and Ireland. Big Eagle received notice that our flight to London had been cancelled. We were switched to a flight that only allowed a 30-minute connection time, which would be impossible.
Memory: 3/15/2020
I remember talking with Cara and Paul on the phone to let them know we would not be coming after all. We would not be staying with them in their home in Lagos. The plan had been to do that and then, once the girls’ spring break began, we were all going together to Victoria Falls for a few days. After that we had planned to all go to Capetown for a few days. All those plans now had to be cancelled. Cara told us that at that point, even if we were able to get to Nigeria, Chevron would have put us under a 14-day quarantine upon arrival. So while it was a huge disappointment, we decided to try again either in the fall or next year in the spring. Maybe third time will be a charm?
Memory: 3/18/2020 (Wednesday)
I remember hearing Paul’s voice on the phone telling us that Chevron was conducting a voluntary evacuation from Nigeria. It was strongly recommended that they leave to go to their home country. Just the sound of Paul’s voice definitely conveyed how unsettling this was for them. The plan was to book a flight ASAP and reserve a rental car, so they could drive themselves to our house. Then they would self-quarantine for the recommended 14 days in our addition.
Memory: 3/19/2020 (Thursday)
I remember picking up groceries at HEB the next day, and as I approached the checkout area, employees were just beginning to adhere these signs to the floor at each check out station.
They had also installed these barriers at the point-of-sale.
A few months after my mom passed, Big Eagle had moved his office into the addition. We spent the afternoon moving all of his office furniture back into our house. We also had been storing boxes in the addition from rooms we were emptying in our house for remodeling. We moved all of that back, too.
Memory: 3/20/2020 (Friday)
Paul and Cara called to let us know they would be flying out of Nigeria on Saturday night (the next day), change planes in London, and arrive in DFW on Sunday afternoon. I would worry about them until I knew they had arrived safely at DFW.
Memory: 3/21/2020 (Saturday)
Billy Bob’s Texas teamed up with Carter Blood Care and put on a 3-day blood drive the 20th through the 22nd. I remember it was a beautiful morning Saturday with a little bit of a chilly breeze. Big Eagle and I had appointments to donate.
The donation center was set up inside the 81 Club on the Billy Bob’s grounds.
Me giving blood.
Big Eagle giving blood. First time we’ve ever donated blood in a honky tonk!
I hadn’t had much luck in finding food and supplies to stock the addition with for the kids, so after we left Billy Bob’s we headed to Costco to try our luck there.
On the way, Cara texted that Nigeria was closing airports to international travel on Monday. So thankful they were leaving today!
I remember the line we joined in order to get into Costco.
We didn’t have to wait too long before the line started to move. But wouldn’t you know they stopped it again right when it was our turn to enter. Still, we didn’t have to wait very much longer before they let us in.
And it was worth the wait! We were able to get the majority of things on our list. Up until this point we hadn’t bought any paper products. But with 4 more people on their way, we went ahead and picked up our limit 1 toilet tissue and limit 1 paper towels. We got buns for the hot dogs, and bread products were limited to 1 per customer, so we still had no bread for them. However we did have the ingredients to make bread, which Cara had told me they could do.
Memory: 3/22/2020 (Sunday)
I decided to get to HEB this gray Sunday morning around the time they opened (8 a.m.) thinking maybe they would be better stocked. I was hoping to pick up a few more things that I hadn’t been able to find yet, like bread and disinfectant wipes. I remember standing in this line with Big Eagle in order to get into the store. We’re in the line on the right. It is walking AWAY from the store.
In this picture we’ve reached the turn-around point and are headed back TOWARD the store. The line moved fairly quickly. I would say we were in line probably less than 10 minutes. We did get disinfectant wipes and I picked up a second gallon of milk. We found bread afterwards at Walmart.
We got a text from Cara a little before 2 p.m. that they had landed at DFW! I remember feeling SO relieved!
Paul texted us this picture of the airport to show us how empty it was.
And here they are! I remember how wonderful it was to FINALLY lay eyes on them in person. However, we are keeping our distance, so it’s kind of weird to not be able to grab them up in a big hug. We talk from back door to back door, text, phone, and FaceTime. The girls will be celebrating their birthdays on April 1st still under quarantine. I’m just glad they’re safe and sound!
To think that a week earlier we were so sad to tell them we couldn’t come to Africa, and now they’re HERE! This virus has caused some CRAZY fallout! I don’t think there’s one person in the whole world who has not been affected somehow. And I know many have been affected way worse than we have. I pray for all those infected, all those working in the public, all the medical personnel, and all of our leaders having to make difficult decisions.
And Danny and Erin? They’ve been in New Zealand since February 17th and have decided to stay there throughout this. They had planned to go to Australia and Viet Nam, but those plans are cancelled. This morning New Zealand moved to the highest level of COVID-19 alert. So they are going through the same types of things that we are.
Danny texted this picture of Erin on Friday. She’s looking for rare Whio he said. He explained that those are blue ducks. He said they didn’t find any. Right now they’re on another hunt. They’re hoping to find an apartment where they can have a place to hunker down once the “lockdown” starts over there.
If you’re still here, thank you for reading my memory timeline! Now you know where our family is in this situation. I hope you are finding ways to not just survive, but thrive throughout this strange time. If you’re so inclined, please let me know how you are doing in the comments. Take care!