Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Unbelievable Welcome back to Delaware!

DELAWARE: October 6 - 13
My visit to Delaware was a dream come true! The time spent there went by like a twinkling of an eye. I still cannot come to grips with the fact that I have return to Delaware and had the opportunity to meet so many of my special friends again after so many years and the unique thing is that I was able to meet most of them in one central location. I am yearning for a quiet moment to digest all that has happened, but no such luck, any way I must keep going, so let me leave you with some of my unbelievable moments in Delaware. There is a famous saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", so I will let the pictures do the talking.

I arrived in Delaware form NY on the Amtrak train around 4:00pm on Saturday and Carol Stewart and Helen Saulsbery (two of my very special friends) were there to pick me up. Upon arriving at Carol's place a group of my close Friends were there to greet me:

Seated in front from left to right are; Bertha Lenoir, Annie Dillard, Helen Saulsbery, Sally Timlin, Carol Stewart and standing in the rear next to me is Sheila Wibecan. Later that evening I was in for a big surprise! There were at least another 50 friends that came over Carol's place to see me. It was amazing to see so many of great friends again in one location. Here are some photos them (too many to name):

I stayed the Saturday night with Susan and Charles (Carol's son) who live only two doors down from Carol's residence. Below are photos of Charles, Carol, Susan and me:
On Sunday morning, I visited the double Kingdom Hall in Pike Creek and attended the two congregations that had their meetings at the same time. For one I attended the public talk the other for Watchtower Study. In doing so, I was able to meet many of my close friends whom I would not have been able to see otherwise. Here are some photos at the hall:
Later Sunday evening Mike Hunter and Carol Hunter arranged a barbecue at their place where I stayed for the next couple of nights. Many at the barbecue are his family members. Mike and Carol also hail from Jamaica and we have developed a very close relationship over the years I lived in Delaware. Here are some photos of the barbecue:
On Tuesday, I made to brief visit to H.B. Dupont Middle School where I taught for 7 years when I lived in Delaware. I was thrilled to see some of my former colleagues again. Below are two photos of some of my former HB team members. I also stopped by Conrod Middle School and visited Carolyn Zogby (principal) and Gegory Blake two former HB staff members who are now working at Conrod. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of them.
On Wednesday afternoon Michael, Carol, Rachael, Michelle, Craig and I went to visit the King of Perisa Mall (a mega mall) in Pennsylvania and unexpectedly came across a former tennis star, Billie Jean King. She was doing a promotion at the time, so we each received a free tennis racket and Michelle received a photo and an autograph from her. Here are some photos of our trip to King of Persia Mall with Billie Jean King:
On Thursday my adopted mother Helen had me over for TEA with the rest of her family and her only grand daughter Mia. Here are some photos of TEA at Helen and Sally (Helen's sister):
So much happened during the 7 days I stopped in Delaware that I need time to recount them all. However, I must jump to my final night in Delaware. This was just as remarkable as the day of my arrival. We were back at Carol's place for final farewell. About 45 friends came along, many of whom couldn't make it on the evening of my arrival. Again I was speechless! Among the Friends who attended were two of my former students (Sean and Andy) from HB Middle School. They are identical twins from a triplet. Here are some photos of the final farewell in Delaware: