[MyDearSam]

or at least, tell me I'm not utterly insane!

In a little over 36 hours, my 14 year old firstborn will be getting on a plane with a group of other teens and taking off for a 3 week trip to Europe. The only time she's ever been away from home that long was a visit to her aunt's in Texas. She was miserable and ready to come home after 3 days!

She begged us for 2 years to let her go on this trip, and now after 10 months of planning, her departure date is on us. She loves all things French, Roman and Greek mythology, art, and reading.

In the span of 20 days, she will visit the Louvre, explore Montmartre, and scale the Eiffel tower in Paris, take an overnight train to Italy, visit a glass factory, cruise the canals of Venice in a gondola, visit the Guggenheim museum, spend 2 days as the guest of a family and attend school in Montecatini. She will visit the American cemetery in Florence, rappel down the walls of a castle in Assisi, then off to Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel. She will visit the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Roman Forum, as well as the Trevi Fountain. In Naples, Italy, she will climb Mount Vesuvius, and visit the lost city of Pompeii.

From Naples, she will board an overnight ferry to Greece, where she will visit Olympia and the ruins of the Temple of Zeus. She will spend a day working on a service project and interacting with the local people in a tiny Greek village before heading off to Athens. In Athens, she will visit the Acropolis and the oldest part of Athens, Plaka. She will visit a public school and learn Greek dance steps from the students, then see a professional Greek dance performance. And finally, she and her student group will spend a sun filled day on the beach before boarding a plane to come back home.


As a parent, you feel such immense pride when your children spread their wings the first time. Right now I'm just a jumble of pride, excitement, nervousness, a twinge of jealousy, and unmitigated FEAR. She's my first baby and she's growing up. too. fast!

Please keep me in your thoughts and my Katie-Bug in your prayers for a safe and most excellent adventure. And if you've got one to spare, send up a prayer for my sanity, LOL!