21 years ago ……today, I was on my way “over the pond” to England. It was an early morning flight and the anticipation had kept me up most of the night. As a relatively new owner of a plant nursery/garden center, I was encouraged by my salesman of organic soil products to partake in a tour of premier garden centers that he had put together in England. The trip itinerary was filled with garden tours, Windsor Castle, Hidcote Manor, and other landmarks, special events, Shakespeares’ grave, pubs, and great food! What an adventure, how could I resist?
Talking a dearest friend into going with me, we planned and saved for months to make it happen. Arriving at the airport that early morning on the day of departure, we met up with others that were on tour, if I remember correctly they were 16 of us originally going. Our tour leader was to meet us in San Francisco as he was there visiting with family that week.
As we sat on extremely hard plastic chairs in the Reno airport waiting for our flight to be called, we chatted a little bit about our businesses, trying to break the ice and get a feel of who we would be spending the next two weeks with. My buddy that was with me had nothing to do with the nursery business, although she was an extremely proficient farmer of hundreds of acres, and she certainly had a knowledge of what it takes to grow something, much more than I did.
We carried our beverages…… and booze…. because who doesn’t start a trip with a Bloody Mary, through check-in. Onboard we settled in for an extremely quick flight from Reno to San Francisco. Having done it many times to try and catch any Off-Broadway play that was in season at the Orpheum Theatre, it’s a straight up …and straight down super quick flight, but they do always serve a beverage. On this particular flight it was not only “no beverage” offered, (coffee coffee coffee ..PLEASE ….COFFEE….it’s 6 am) but everyone was told to stay in their seats and keep their seatbelt tightly fastened. We all kind of looked at each other like “this is different”, but no worries ……who cares about caffeine, we’re on our way to England!!!! To get our passports stamped! To tour gardens filled with blossoms, Castles lined with topiary sculptures, tour the Queen’s residence and hopefully fill ourselves with fish and chips, a Spotted Dick (really… it’s a Sticky pudding), and a Woodpecker or three.
Well, after twenty-one years of history - you know how this day unfolded. What was a devastating day for our country, one positive was unfolded. Friendships that were molded on those little hard plastic seats in Reno still remain.
We did not get to England that trip, but rather came home a week later when the train routes opened up and we could get over Donner Pass. Our lives were forever changed. We did make it to England a month later, and now there were only five of us, instead of 16. Situations changed, work schedules changed, and families feared, but off we went, to get our passports stamped.
May we always remember.
