Mi Familia Colombiana

We arrived in Bogota on the morning of my birthday. It was a terrible 9 hour overnight bus ride which included seats that literally reclined into your lap…I could have braided the hair of the passenger in front of me. It was insanely bumpy with numerous sharp turns on curvy mountainous roads, many shortstops with our things sliding back and forth….and in the pitch black of the night. Sleeping was impossible and we showed up exhausted and achey instead of well rested and excited.

Things took an immediate turn for the better though, we were blessed enough to stay with the most wonderful Christian family, the Shaws, Margarita, Freddy and their 13 year old son, Nico. Margarita is the aunt of one of Jessica’s best friends, Jeimy. She reached out to me shortly after announcing my decision to travel, volunteer and soul search. This family was just amazing, they welcomed us into their home with arms wide open, they didn’t speak English and our Spanish skills are lacking…but we both learned quite a bit.

The first day was relaxing, Ryan and I needed to sleep a bit just to try and get an hour or two in for the day, we had our own room in their lovely house and the beds reminded me of being a child with the different covers. I cannot emphasize enough how amazing the food was…just so perfect…home cooked meals prepared with love and the desire to showcase classic Colombian cuisine. We haven’t eaten this well all trip. We never went hungry.

The first night Ryan and I asked them to dinner so that I could celebrate my B-Day somewhat. We had a wonderful dinner at Club Colombia, which is also one of the local beers. They had a little surprise for me as well, Nico actually played 4-5 songs on his violin as a present, one song of course being happy birthday. His mom didn’t want him to stop, she kept saying, another…another…it was a very wonderful and special moment. This kid is amazing and he’s gonna be a stud when he gets older…very good head on his shoulders. Ryan and I actually discussed that whatever Margarita and Freddy are doing to raise their child is working.

At dinner, I could not stop thinking about how weird all of this is though, how surreal. Here I am on my 35th birthday sitting in a restaurant in downtown Bogota with my best friend and a Colombian family I met 12 hours prior. Two years ago I spent my 33rd birthday in a Michigan emergency room with Jessica’s family when we had to rush her father, Hutch, to the hospital during his battle with cancer. He returned to be with The Lord two weeks after that day. My 34th birthday was spent in the University of Chicago ICU after Jessica’s cancer spread to her brain causing a dozen lesions. Immediate brain surgery was needed with full brain radiation to follow. I thought that would have been the worst birthday…but nothing compared to this year. It wasn’t the family and atmosphere of course….it was obviously because the most important person in this world was taken away from me. I could have been thrown a surprise party with all of my closest friends and family in Italy with Jim Morrison singing happy birthday and it still would have been the most depressing day ever…it just doesn’t matter. Any celebration feels so forced, so in-genuine, so meaningless that it seriously and literally hurts my heart…I’m not kidding, all day on my birthday I would actually feel a tightness in my heart, an ache, a hole…a loss.

This family however was a gift from God, I don’t know how I would have handled all of this without them. They were just a true blessing.

Freddy took time out of day to guide us, via the trans millennial, to Monserrate. This was an amazing adventure to the top of a mountain overlooking all of Bogota, we even prayed in the Church, Pasion De Cristo Confortanos, atop of the highest point. We took a cable car up to the top and walked the 45 minute descent via the stairs. It was some much needed nature and adventure. Ryan and I continued our sightseeing throughout the city, viewing the plazas, the oldest cathedral, the Museo de Oro (gold museum) and the participating in the shared energy of all the people accumulating on the streets which were closed to traffic for entertainment, markets and socializing. It was such a sight. the highlight for me was the next day though, mi familia Colombiana took us to their Christian church for Sunday service. It was a little taste of home which I very much needed…I felt the love, faith and energy of the people in attendance…it overwhelmed my emotions when I thought of Jess being there with me. I know she was happy that I was looked over by some of God’s angels living here on earth. Thank you Shaw family for everything you have done…te amo.