crab sandwich

Kelli: “I’m going to be moving out of the country and I’d like to put in a notice for my credit cards.”
Woman with Wells Fargo: “OK. No problem. Where are you going?”
“Angola.”
Pause.
“Sorry?”
“Angola.”
…
“Where?”
“ANG-Gol-la.”
“Oh. OK. Angola … What country is that in?”
“Ahm. It’s in Angola. Angola is a country in Africa.”
“Right. OK. One moment. … Hmpf. It doesn’t look like Angola is in our database.”

And so the adventure begins.

Day before yesterday Kelli, her mom Corinne and I were multitasking bandits. Driving to the post office while talking to the bank while researching how to make sure Kelli’s phone number stays alive for another 20 years.

Multitasking.

It took a while, but she got all the odds and ends done with hours to spare. We even  managed to say goodbye to her niece and nephews, visit Trey, Erin and their daughter Maria before Kelli’s last supper: Thai food with Paul, Erik and Alicia.

Not sure if Maria got the Muammar Gaddafi reference

With Bob Costas looking on, Kelli set up a folding table in the living room and magically fit everything into three bags. She, her stepdad Rick and her brother Brian took turns hugging the luggage while stepping on and off the scale. Under 50lbs!

The Bag Pack and Lift: Official Olympic event, Brazil 2016

Yesterday morning we woke up to hazy skies filled with the smell of burning brushfire. Her bags sat patiently in front of the door as we scrambled to find Kelli’s little black book of passwords. She looked all through the house, opened the little pockets of her luggage, and emptied her shoulder bag one more time. It’s got to be somewhere.

“Oh I know where it is.”

It was where it was supposed to be: tucked into the sleeve of an accordion folder.

Well … I guess that means it’s time to go to the airport.

Saying goodbye to Keisha and Sitka

We slide one duffel and two rolling bags into the back of Rick’s silver extended cab truck. Corinne up front. Kelli sits at my side in the middle seat.

Her bags weigh in just as we had planned—right under 50 lbs each. “Your bags are checked all the way to Angola … and it’s going to be $200 for the extra bag.”

Sunscreen and bug spray are worth their weight in gold.

We walk to the entrance of security, and one-by-one say our so-longs. Corinne, Rick, Brian, and finally me.

Hugs, tears, smiles, more tears, and a cheesy thumbs up (my fault).

She is on her way and we couldn’t be more proud or more excited for the adventure ahead.

I can’t wait to join her.

Next stop: Angola.