Reunion and Auntie Betty’s 90th Birthday in the UK

Reunion in Aberford, Yorkshire 11-13-10. You can find Barbara 3rd on the left, and David 3rd on the right!

In November, we flew to the UK for Barbara’s Auntie Betty’s 90th birthday party and for a reunion of “kids” who used to hang out at Auntie Betty’s home in Leeds so many years ago. It’s like this: Auntie Betty has 2 children, Linda and Franklin. Linda and Barbara were best friends, Franklin and Barbara’s brother Anthony were best friends, and Franklin was Barbara’s boyfriend from the age of 11 to 15! And there was Leon who was Franklin and Anthony’s best friend also. Maggie, Barbara’s twin sister, was always around. And let’s not forget Judy, Anthony’s girlfriend at the time. So we were friends then, and we are still friends. Fourteen of us (original players plus spouses) had an unforgettably memorable reunion in the White Swan Hotel in Aberford, Yorkshire, a beautiful little village just outside Leeds.

Leon and Judy meet up again after more than 40 years!

Betty’s 90th birthday was celebrated the next day ~ she had no idea that Barbara and David, and Maggie and Gunnar would be able to make it from the States, and she was surprised, and delighted!

Barbara and David with a Bagpiper in Edinburgh Scotland

While in the UK we visited with friends and family in Hertfordshire, West Sussex, Surrey, Cheshire, Lancashire, Leeds, Edinburgh (by train) and West London, with a two-day trip to the Netherlands in-between to visit friends in Zeist and Driebergen. (If you read our previous Newsletter, you may remember that we visited with our dear friend Mech last November. Unfortunately Mech passed away in March at the age of 92, and we miss her so very much.)

Goose Bay, Newfoundland Through The Plane Window

To make our return flight to Chicago and Norfolk really interesting, three passengers had checked in, but didn’t show for the flight. Their luggage had to be removed before we could take off, causing an hour’s delay. Two hours later there was a medical emergency on board. Unfortunately, a passenger was having seizures and needed urgent hospital treatment. So now we know what Goose Bay, Newfoundland, looks like! Our landing at Chicago was further delayed by storms, causing us to circle around Wisconsin for a while, before eventually landing at our destination ~ 3 hours late for our connecting flight though! We arrived at midnight at our hotel in Norfolk, after a 17 hour journey!

Fondly,

Barbara and David
The Channel Bass Inn Bed and Breakfast & Tea Room