Sheenagh and Ciarán offered to keep Jillian for the weekend which was so sweet of them to do. She spent time with Sheenagh's nieces, Rose and Eireann, who Jillian has become very good friends with. They went swimming at an indoor pool park with the "lazy river" to play in, hit McDonald's, and got to just veg together for one last time. Aidan's family so immediately treated us like family, that I had no worry in the world about Jillian when she was without me -- they just loved her and took care of her as one of their own.
A few days before we left for Dublin, though, I had hit a very sad low. The realization that our time in Ireland was coming to a close was saddening me beyond words. Worse was knowing that I was going back home without Aidan. We had originally planned that we'd fly back together, but his job ended just after I arrived in Ireland, so money was quite tight once the rent and utilities and such were paid. Thinking of plane fare was out of the question until he could find more work. When it all hit me, I just couldn't stop sobbing. I hated to face the fact that not only was I leaving without him, but that we had no time frame whatsoever as to how long we would be apart again. AGAIN. My gosh, we had just survived almost seven months without each other after he went back home last December until I arrived in late June. Yes, we had Skype and thank God for that, we could "see" each other everyday and still have long, enjoyable conversations and share what was going on in our lives, but that can only go on so long. We missed being together, eating together, walking together, just cuddling and kissing and breathing the same air. And now, it seemed, we were facing doing that all over again. Even harder considering we'd have spent seven weeks together, nearly 24/7. Being without each other would be such a shock to the system.
I finally decided I needed the love and prayers of our friends to help us get through this sad reality, so I shared here on our blog and on Facebook that no, Aidan would not be coming with Jillian and I, and no, we had no real idea when that would ever happen. What happened next still gives me tears and goosebumps.
Not only were our friends deeply sad and shocked for us, and sent lots of hugs and good thoughts and prayers, but one particular friend of mine, a neighbor from several years ago, Kelly, posted on Facebook that we should start a GoFundMe account to raise money to bring Aidan home to Michigan. That idea had never crossed my mind. I was a little leery having to ask for donations, but when several other friends chimed in and asked me to start fundraising, that they'd love to help, I finally thought, "Well, why not. Every little bit helps, and at least we might have a little hope." I mentioned it to Aidan and he was quite surprised at the concept, too but was willing to give me the go -ahead. So, late one night Irish time, I started a GoFundMe account and posted to Facebook. Kelly, my sweet neighbor who had the idea in the first place, immediately donated to the account. I was truly speechless. I went to bed that night with a twinge of excitement, thinking that we might just have a little spark of hope.
When I awoke early the next morning, my iPhone had its normal list of notifications on the screen, and as I squinted through them half asleep, I realized most of them were related to the GoFundMe account. I rubbed my eyes fully awake and went to the app to see what had transpired. In only eight hours or so, our friends had donated $585 towards Aidan's $1100 plane fare to America!!! I almost fell out of bed. I had tears and goosebumps and I was immediately shaking. I could not believe the outpouring of support our friends had for us and for our love story. Friends from all over the world, many of which I haven't seen in YEARS, some of which we've never even met in person, only online over Facebook, were donating to make our dreams come true. I immediately began sending thank you notes back to each and every one of these amazing friends, as I held back tears. Aidan was still sound asleep, and I was dying to wake him up. He was going to FLIP OUT. And sure enough, when all my jostling and sniffing and hopping about woke him up, and I told him what had happened, the look on his face was PRICELESS. I hadn't seen a look of surprise like that since the morning I woke him up in North Carolina after driving 12 hours to surprise him and showed up on his doorstep! We were absolutely FLOORED at the love our friends had for us and for our story. We immediately thanked God together for each of these sweet friends and for all our family and friends who were rooting for us to continue our amazing story. My tears went from tears of sorrow to tears of joy. I can't imagine that our friends can even comprehend this gift they'd given us. We finally had hope.
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| Dublin |
The only thing about our trip to Dublin was that we left on the train in the rain. Funny thing, this. I had joked for over six weeks that the Irish and their "oh it rains most of the time in Ireland" thing was all a fairytale. Nearly the entire time I was there, it was blue skies and sunshine!! But sure enough, my last weekend in Ireland was RAIN. I was told that Ireland was crying because I was about to leave. Awwww. :-(
But rain wouldn't slow us down any. Thankfully Aidan's brother, Declan had thought to lend us his big Jameson Whiskey umbrella, which came in handy for sure. We rode the hop-on/hop-off tour bus up in the double decker part, most of which had no roof, with rain spitting at us off and on all day. And still all we could do was laugh and smile and kiss and hug and walk around in our own little sunny heaven. This was not our last weekend together for uncountable months, only for a few weeks tops. Life was -- IS -- grand.
Finding our hotel was another story, though. I had booked the Travelodge -Phoenix Park, which was supposed to be near the park, the zoo, and the tour bus route. WRONG. We walked through Phoenix Park (and walked, and walked...) and finally exited the park on the other side, and faced a busy road, and the hotel was still not in sight. Aidan finally flagged down a cab and we got a ride out to the hotel. It was a great hotel, clean and modern, and the desk clerk was nothing short of amazing at her job -- Rebecca with her Claddagh engagement ring (yes I took quick notice at that!) But don't ask about the wifi. The wifi wasn't free, it was 5 Euro. Then we soon discovered that that is per device. So our two iPhones to use wifi -- 10 Euro. God help the families with three kids and 12 devices. 5 Euro each?? Seriously. That drove us crazy. Other than that, we were happy to have found the hotel. But close to the city centre, it was not. We walked (in the Irish rain) to the bus stop, took the bus to the centre, and then found the tour bus. But I quickly realized that I would happily ride the city bus all day long -- I LOVE to watch people. You just never know the many kinds of people who will get on a city bus. Fascinating.
Funny thing, too: Right ahead of us on the city bus was a poster for Ikea. Oh yes! Dublin also has an Ikea! Had to mark that on our list of things to do that weekend.
As it went, we had a glorious time in Dublin. We wandered around the Antique Quarter full of antique shops (most of which were closed by the time we got there but it was fun anyway.) We saw the massive St Patrick's Cathedral, did a little souvenir shopping for the kids back home... And then we hit up Temple Bar on Saturday night looking for traditional Irish music. I thought this was going to be a breeze --- after all, Temple Bar was the most famous district for pubs and music in all of Dublin. But after the fourth pub we went in and right back out because there was no real trad music, I was getting seriously worried! FINALLY we happened upon a pub with a guitar and accordion that was really good. And what followed them was another guitar and accordion duo that was REALLY GOOD. I was immediately in heaven. Saturday night in Dublin truly was a dream come true. I'm so happy we decided to do Dublin that final weekend of my stay in Ireland.
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| Fionnbar, a man in Dublin |
this about the Irish. Even Fionnbar said the Irish can't hide anywhere -- they will always find another Irishman regardless of the country they may be in away from home! Just such a great time in Dublin.
The train ride home was bittersweet. Aidan and I both really love Dublin, and we both agreed we could live there someday (after we make a bit of money, though -- expensive city to live in!) We rode home, staring at the scenery out the windows and my heart began to hurt. I knew that in only a couple short days, I'd have to leave this beautiful country and this amazing family of Aidan's.
Later that night, Jillian in bed and Aidan next door checking on his parents, I began to download the 100s of photos I'd taken in Dublin, as I sat quietly in our little kitchen. I loved our little house in Leitrim and I couldn't shake the thought that I couldn't call it "home" for very much longer. My mind was racing through the amazing adventures we'd taken these seven weeks, all the beautiful things we'd seen and shared, and the people I'd grown to love so deeply. About that time, Aidan came in and leaned over me to see what I was doing with the photos, and told me he had something on his mind to talk to me about. I figured it was something about his family or something. So I stopped working with the photos and looked up him to listen. He leaned over me, looked into my eyes, and said, "Will you marry me?"
????!!!!!
I was STUNNED.
YES we'd talked about it a million times. Aidan even happily calls me Mrs. Bannon upon occasion because he likes the sound of it. But I had NO idea at that second that he was going to propose.
And do you know what I could barely get out? (Because in that moment, I was dizzy and near speechless.) "Are you serious???"
And of course he said he was serious and he loved me and again, would I marry him, and of course I said YES with everything that I am, and we kissed and hugged and just nearly fainted, I think. Well, I almost did, anyway.
As if our love and this wonderful time in Ireland wasn't enough, NOW I found myself happily engaged to be married to my sweet Aidan.
When I woke up the next morning, and stared at Aidan, I had to ask him if I had dreamed the night before. He told me no, it was all real, and we were engaged. OH talk about being on Cloud Nine!!!! My Claddagh ring now sits on my left hand instead of my right, and I was just brimming with excitement. I couldn't wait to share our news. Facebook had to wait, though. We had to tell our families first, personally.This is when the five hour time difference really bugged me! Everyone in the States was still sleeping. I had to wait until later in the day to call home. Aidan's brother Declan and his little family were still out of town. This was going to take a little time. Finally I was able to Skype my parents, and also found out my son Ethan was there, as was my nice Autumn and her family up from NC, so I was able to share our news at once with all of them. I then chatted with my oldest, PJ, and sent messages to all of my nieces, my sister, and my brother. Everyone seemed happy for us, though I doubt any of them were surprised, they knew how much Aidan and I loved each other and had already planned to spend forever together.
It took until the following day for Aidan to make the announcement to his family. His parents and aunt first, while we were next door with them. His daddy hugged me immediately and told me he'd love me like a daughter, which meant the WORLD to me. It was so exciting to share our news with his family. One by one, he phoned his siblings and put the phone on speaker. What a hoot when he called his sister Fionnuala, because she was at work and had to remain completely calm and quiet, two things that are not normal-Fionnuala-characteristics. She sounded as happy as she could reveal. Aidan's brothers were also quick to congratulate us, but they were both at work. Sheenagh was very excited for us and she was with her sister Roisin, who I've also become close to, and her daughter Rose, all of them whooping it up in the background. What fun. Poor Aidan's heart was beating out of his chest!!! And it didn't slow down for quite some time! This was one crazy couple of days for us!!! After all of the sharing, I was given the go-ahead to post on Facebook. We had already been invited to Aidan's cousin's house to visit sweet Alanna who had just gotten home from the hospital after a horrendous bike accident, and Aidan's siblings and families were also going. I soon heard from one of his cousins who said, "Now an engagement party at our house tonight???" :-) OH the fun!!! It was official: I could now really truly call this family my own!!!
That night was amazing but not easy. I had already begun to pack before we left for the gathering, but was far from finished. I loved being able to see everything together one last night before our flight the next day, but that meant I had to say goodbyes, too. Just the morning before, on Monday, it hit me when I was standing in the kitchen at home that I was about to leave Ireland, and I couldn't stop the tears. I cried off and on all Monday long, and by Tuesday night, I thought for sure I was all cried out. Well, I was ok until little Alanna started crying before we left. That made ME start crying all over again.
We bid farewell to everyone that night, except officially to Aidan's parents, aunt, and sister, because I'd be seeing them the next morning. I left with a heaviness in my heart I'll never forget. I wasn't ready to say a final goodbye to this country, or to this beautiful new family of mine. I just wasn't ready.
How am I going to get through this? I didn't want to face the next morning. I just didn't want Wednesday to come.
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