Travels with Chuck

Chuck left this morning for a little road trip. And I hope he has a good time. He is surely excited to be going.

He is going to visit Audrey in Knoxville, then the two of them will visit my Uncle Jim in Ashville, NC overnight, return back to Knoxville and then he will also visit Elena and Kosta in Bowling Green Kentucky.

This may be his last trip to Knoxville as Audrey is searching for the next place in her life. Chuck was there in Knoxville in the beginning. He took a road trip down there and helped her find her first apartment and then he and I drove his van pulling a trailer full of furniture for her. He has been a real blessing to her. I am sure he will yet introduce her to new places as he finds them out everywhere he goes.

The visit to Uncle Jim will be interesting of course. My uncle Jim is my father's brother (actually foster brother) and he is a transgender man who is 87 years old. He lives as a man but he is a woman at heart - which is particularly interesting because he was a prisoner of war in World War 2 and an engineer who worked for IBM in corporate America. When we were younger, we always thought of him as pretty talkative and opinionated. Now, at his age and with this amazing story, I find him to be wise and compassionate. Chuck likes Jim - we have seen him a couple of times and he appreciates him - even though usually when the three of us are together it is Jim and I talking the most. But Chuck is making the trip and bringing Audrey. I wish I could be there for it all.

We became acquainted with Kosta and Elena at least 12 years ago when she came to Bowling Green Ohio as part of a study group from Russia and the Ukraine. She stayed almost a year and a few months into her visit, her husband Kosta and daughter Nadya joined her. That year there were close to 20 people - men and women and children - from Russia and the Ukraine who became part of our lives. Chuck was the one who took them places, helped them find apartments and cars and even hired some of them to work with him. It was a memorable year. Kosta and Elena wanted to stay in America - so much that they even contemplated divorce in order to stay. What happened was that they returned to the Ukraine and saved money. Two years later they emigrated to Windsor Canada. Chuck and Mary Ann and Bill drove to Toronto in a blizzard and picked them up and brought them to their fully furnished apartment (furnished by First Christian Church BG, Chuck and MaryAnn)

Anyway, Kosta and Elena over the years worked hard, bought a house in Windsor, bought another house in Windsor, he learned English really well and then they got an opportunity to move to the US - to Bowling Green Kentucky. So, Chuck stopped today to buy bread for Kosta and will be with them on Saturday and Sunday. I am sure they will feed him well and they will all enjoy being together.

Chuck is like nobody in the world. This trip is just an example of his big heart, his love of travel, and his wanting to give and to help everybody.

I am a blessed woman - to be married to this man. I will miss him this week.