A Mother's Excursion to London: A Narrative

For this post, I want to share my mother's excursion to London. As I previously mentioned, my mother and father visited me in London half way through the semester. Here is my narrative about my mother.

March 15, 2014. That was the day I found out that I was going to study abroad in London for my fall semester of 2014. It was such a happy day for me. I was finally getting my dream of traveling abroad to a place I've always wanted to see. The moment I found out I was studying abroad in London, I called my mom. To give a little background on my mother, she was born in the Bronx in 1960. She lived with her Italian mother, father, two brothers, grandmother, aunt, and uncle. It was a small town house, small enough that she had to share a bedroom with her grandmother. She grew up in an extremely over protected home. She was never allowed to leave the house by herself and couldn't have friends come over. The only things she could do was inside the house with her family. When she turned 18 years old, she had the opportunity to travel to Italy to visit her family. She went with her Aunt Rosemary for an entire summer before college. That was her only chance to go abroad and she could only do it because she was with her family.

When my mother heard the news that I was traveling abroad, she held back some of her excitement. Growing up, my mother did not raise my sister and I in the environment that she was raised in. She protected us like any other mother would, but also wanted us to have childhood memories and experiences that we could remember forever. She was a caring and loving mother and gave my sister and I more than we could ever need. That's why I understand why she was hesitant about my living abroad for 4 months. She didn't understand the need to go abroad for 4 months when I was having the time of my life at school. She didn't know why I would want to put my life in danger and be a young girl in foreign countries. At the same time, she was raised in a very different environment than I was. Additionally, in our area, studying abroad is popular among those students whose parents give them enough money to go. My mother made it very clear that she would not finance my study abroad trip. Therefore, that summer, along with the money I would make during my internship in London, I would have made enough to go abroad.

On the other hand, my father had the traveling bug. Because my mother is so hesitant on traveling, we never went on a European vacation as a family. So when I called my father about my acceptance into the London program, the first thing he said was, "I'm booking a trip!". This made me so excited because by the time my dad wanted to come, it would be halfway through the program and I would have a solid knowledge of London. Along with my mother's issues on flying, I knew it was going to be difficult to get her on a plane to visit me. There were so many conversations about how it would be great for them to come visit because I could be homesick and the fact that they have never been to London this would be a great opportunity to see a different place. My parents, father especially, were so stressed out from work that they desperately need this vacation.

Although I wasn't home, I could only imagine what my father went through the night before their flight to London. "How could you do this to me, Jerry?! I told you I didn't want to take a 6 hour flight! How am I going to stay asleep?". That's when my father had the best idea. Fast forward to the flight the next day, 2 ativans, and a vodka tonic later, my mother was conked out for the entire flight. My father couldn't even wake her up to get off the plane. A few hours later, I met my parents at the airport and the moment I saw them, I started to cry. I didn't realize how excited I would be to see them until I actually saw them.

Looking back, I don't know how I would have lasted 4 months without seeing my family. The fact that my mother didn't even approve of me leaving made me feel terrible. Having her see the sights in London and spending 10 days with my parents away from my friends was just what I needed halfway through the semester.  By the end of their trip, my mother admitted that she understood why I fell in love with London. She didn't even want to leave at the end of her trip.

This is a picture of our first adventure in London at the Tower of London. Can you tell that just a few hours previous, they got off a 6 hour flight from New York? Look at how happy they are in this picture. To think that she didn't want to fly because she was afraid. It's crazy how the things that hold us back are just the things that we need in our life. I am so proud of my mother and the courage that she had to leave New York and see the world. I can't wait for her next excursion across the pond!