Visiting with Arne's Family

Sunday, July 17, 2016--Copenhagen

Arne's family invited me to join them Sunday.  Sascha and her husband Danni picked me up at Grethe's apartment at 13:30, and we drove to the camping ground on the edge of town where her parents (Gitte and Carit) have a plot with a large, new camping wagon.  It includes an attached tented deck that is as large as the wagon; an outdoor, covered food preparation area with counter top, sink, and hot running water; a barbecue grill; and a large lawn with fruit trees, berry bushes, flowering plants, and a playground area for the children. 

It was my first time to see the family since they were in Texas six years ago.  Since that time, both of Gitte's parents--Evy, Arne's sister, and Arvind, her husband--have died.  And Sascha and her husband have had two children.  As we sat and talked, we determined that I have now known 5 generations of the family.  Originally, there was also Arne's step-mother Grethe still living. 

Sascha's and Danni's boys are 4 years old and 1 1/2 years old.  It was interesting to see the differences in their personalities.  Romeo, the older one, is more serious and more shy.  Joey, the younger one, is perpetually jolly and friendly.  Joey interacted with me immediately.  Romeo was distant until I noticed a soccer ball on the playground and kicked it near him.  Immediately, he rushed to kick it and keep it away from me.  We played several minutes with him really working hard to keep control of the ball and laughing.  After that, he was fine with me.  And when they later left, he was telling me "Bye, Bye" versus the Danish version of "Hej, Hej" since his mother has been teaching him some English.

Also there was Georgina, a French friend of Gitte's who has worked with her on previous projects related to her job.   As the day progressed, I also really enjoyed visiting with her.  She gave me suggestions of places I might like to visit in France, and we talked about her travels.  After ending a relationship a few years ago, she got up the nerve to travel on her own and now thoroughly believes it is the best way to travel for the same reason I do--because of the opportunities that being alone provides for meeting people, both fellow travelers and locals, along the way.

We started the afternoon with coffee, tea, and a variety of Danish pastries as we sat around a long table inside the tent.  As the afternoon passed, there were small conversational groups in the tent and in the yard.  Eventually, they started preparing an early dinner of shish kebabs (some with marinated chicken and some with marinated pork) cooked on the grill, bread also cooked on the grill, salad with a homemade vinaigrette made by Georgina, and a warm cheese-tomato sauce.

The afternoon often centered around the children.  But I had good conversations with everyone.  The family has always been nice and accepting of me, and they refer to me as "Uncle Randy."  Unfortunately, Carit became ill as the day progressed--a suspected bladder infection since the symptoms matched those of a previous infection he had two years ago.  So the evening ended with efforts to get me home while also getting Carit to the hospital.

Other than the ending, it was a very nice day and it was so nice to be with all of them again.  The family told me they have plans to return to Texas in a few years when the boys are both old enough to enjoy it and to understand what they are seeing.  I was glad to hear that they are interested in visiting again.