My trip to Israel with my mother starts tomorrow.
Let me back up.
As a child I was deeply interested in faith, spirituality, and religion. I was eternally curious about "the big questions." For several years, from grade school through middle school, I attended Sunday School at two different churches every Sunday. When we'd read the Bible and learn all the stories, the main thing they had in common was location. Israel was central to most of the stories. Mom and I decided it would be fantastic to go there... someday...
In college I told my guidance counselor I wanted to major in Religious Studies. "Oh! Are you heading into the Seminary after college?" I explained that I didn't really believe in God, but found the subject matter interesting, and wanted to pursue the study of religion for the sake of study itself. That was highly unconventional, and didn't lead to a career, so I was steered into Psychology. (I never used my Psychology degree.) During those college years my mom pointed out that her church was going on a tour of the Holy Land. Maybe we could go? We looked into it and gave it a long consideration. But it was expensive. My sister and I were in college, so we were expensive, too. We couldn't do it then, but maybe someday...
After graduating from college I decided to pursue a graduate degree in Religious Studies when I was living in Arizona. First I'd have to go back and pick up all the basic courses at the community college, because of course, with a degree in Psychology I didn't have the undergraduate background necessary for graduate study in Religion. So I went back and picked up the basics (World Religions, Philosophy Of Religion) and then went on to earn my Masters degree in Religious Studies from Arizona State. During those years I became a member of the Biblical Archaeological Society and the American Academy of Religion. I'd receive quarterly and/or monthly publications from those societies, and they would announce certain travel opportunities for religious scholars. "Professor Amazing from Fabulous University is leading an archaeological dig in the city of Ancient-opolis, to possibly uncover ruins that will lead to the verification of an obscure person in some verses you've never read in the Bible." I'd read those announcements with envy, hoping that someday I'd get to do such a dig. But each dig was upwards of $3,000 (in the 90s), and I was paying for graduate school while supporting myself, so I'd longingly read the posts thinking,.... someday.
It was during that time that I started saving money for my mother to go. We had always discussed going together, but it was always so expensive. If I started saving a little at a time, maybe I could get enough together and we'd be able to go on one of her church's tours. Every few years they'd go back, so we just needed to time it right and save wisely. One year I handed her a check for $1,000 -- a LOT of money from my perspective then, but a fraction of what we'd need to make it happen. She refused the check. She assured me that we'd get there... someday.
In 1999 my mom found out that my sister's husband's uncle, who is a priest in Ireland, would be leading a tour to Israel through his church. She signed up! Mom was finally going to get to see Israel in 2000!! But in early 2000 her mother, my grandmother, took a turn for the worse, and we lost her in June. Mom had to cancel her trip which started when mom was planning my grandmother's services. But mom took it in stride and always said that it was okay she couldn't go then. She knew she'd get there... someday...
In 2004 I met Amy, and we decided to spend our lives together. She's an avid traveler, and wanted to treat me to an incredible trip overseas. "If you could travel anywhere in the world," she asked me eagerly, "where would you go?"
"Oh, easy," I said, "Israel. But right now they're deep in the Second Intifada, and I don't want to be on a bus that blows up, so maybe.. Rome? Athens?" She booked us on a cruise that would take us to Rome, Athens, and several other port stops the following summer. We kept an eye on the news coming from Israel, knowing that we'd get there... someday.
Things have been pretty hectic since then. Kaiden came along in 2008, and I've been busy "momming" since his arrival. My brain injury in 2013 stopped all travel for a few years, and recovering from that has taken a long time. I was getting well enough to travel again a few years ago, so Amy surprised me with a birthday gift in 2019. "Karina, I've spoken with your mother, and I'm making plans. For your birthday this year, and for every birthday and Christmas for the rest of your life, how would you like to travel to Israel with your mother next year, on a National Geographic Tour?"
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!! It's happening!?!?! The interminable "Someday" is next year!?!!
Amy and Mom and I looked into all the tours that corresponded with dates when Amy's work schedule could accommodate me leaving for a few weeks. We settled on a 15 day tour of Israel and Jordan, departing in May of 2020. We had a year to plan. Over the next several months we booked our tour, bought the plane tickets, reserved the hotels, purchased travel insurance, and selected our optional excursions! SO EXCITING!!!! We would leave in May!
In December we started hearing about a virus they were calling COVID.
In April National Geographic canceled all its May excursions.
National Geographic reassured us that they would let us reschedule. We rescheduled for November, 2020.
In October, all November tours were canceled. We rescheduled for the following May, 2021.
In April, all May tours were canceled. We rescheduled for the following November, 2021.
In October, all November tours were canceled. We rescheduled for March 24, 2022.
...which is tomorrow!
We selected our tour, bought our plane tickets, reserved our hotels, purchased our travel insurance, selected our optional excursions, and additionally, we both found out two hours ago that the PCR test we took at O'Hare on Tuesday came back negative!
For several decades our attempts to go to Israel have been thwarted by lack of funds, grandma's death, Israeli/Palestinian wars, and a global pandemic. But someday is tomorrow. You can keep an eye on this blog for updates about our experiences, and I'll be posting photos to Facebook.
Wish us luck!!
Mom gets her COVID test at O'Hare Airport, two days before departure.
