Unlike many men, as I’ve heard many a woman complain, I’m one who can be very nostalgic, remembering special dates and events in my life and in the lives of those around me. And today is a very special day in the life of me and my wifey Lynndee, the creator of this blog site. It was six years ago today that our lives changed forever. How so? That was the day we arrived in the good ol’ U S of A after a long trip over the Pacific coming from the Philippines, that being the first time she and her son had ever set foot on American soil. But what an adventure it was getting to that point!

The journey had begun nine months earlier when I filed for a fiancé visa with the State Department of the US. Surprisingly, though, that wasn’t one of the adventures of this endeavor. We’d heard of others having many problems dealing with the American government concerning immigration issues. We’d even signed up with an internet forum, VISA Journey, which allowed us to interact with others going through the process. In doing that, we discovered several problems people were having, giving us the information we needed to avoid such. As it was, though, I’d already done my research and according to the immigration attorney I hired, I put together the perfect petition package to turn in to the State Department. It was five months before the State Department acknowledged receipt of the visa petition but only two months passed before they sent an appointment date for Lynndee to appear at the American embassy in Manila for an interview to approve the visa request. To Lynndee, that was an adventure because she was unsure of what she’d be facing, and she knew of others whose requests had been denied. But I told her not to worry because I’d put together the perfect package and there’d be no problem at all. And so it was that there wasn’t. Her interview went on for about ten minutes until the consulate official said the magic words, “Visa approved.”

Once that was accomplished, we began our plans of getting her and Yogi here so we could get married. But it had only taken eight months from the filing of the petition to the approval, not bad at all according to some of the others I’d heard of. Not a month later, I got on the plane and headed on to westward, to the Philippines, to collect my new family and bring them to their new home country. That, however, is where one of my great adventures began.

I left Asheville, flew to my connecting flight in Detroit, flew from Detroit to Tokyo where we landed for refueling before heading for Manila. On arrival there, it was then I discovered that my baggage had not arrived with me. It took a couple of days to find out that my baggage had been left in Detroit. And at that, it then took a couple of more days for my baggage to be forwarded, making me go for four days without anything personal other that what I’d had in my carry-on. Thankfully, me and her father were close in size so I did have changes of clothes.

In a way, that was kind of a vacation for me because I was there for eight days before we headed home. That gave her time to do all her goodbyes. I also got to attend the wedding of her brother while there. I was thankful, however, that my luggage got there before the wedding with the dress clothes I needed to wear to the wedding to go along with the traditional Filipino Barong Tagalog that Lynndee had rented for me to wear.

Finally, it was time to leave. After spending a night in Manila, we boarded our flight which took us to Tokyo for a connecting flight. After twelve hours in the air, we finally landed in Atlanta, a city Lynndee has become familiar with since her arrival. And then it was on to Asheville. It was on arrival here that something cute happened that I’ll never forget.

In her hometown in the Philippines, the temperature pretty well averages between 80° to 90° on a daily basis, a perpetual summer, and the lowest temperatures she’d ever experienced was in the lower 70’s. But on walking out of my local airport, it being November, the ambient temperature was roughly around 45°, promptly getting the following response from Lynndee: “Oooooh, it’s cold!” I couldn’t help but laugh before telling her, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, honey!” Fortunately, she has come to love the weather and the changing of the seasons, something never experienced in a tropical country.

So today is a day of celebration for us, one of our special little anniversaries. And we’ll go out and have dinner tonight, once again to a place we’ve never been to seeing that Lynndee always wants to try a new restaurant so she can hopefully eat at all of them here in Asheville before we return to the Philippines for my retirement. Then it’ll be my turn to try all her restaurants, the ones I haven’t tried yet. And on this day before Thanksgiving, me and Lynndee give thanks that we’re together celebrating this wonderful journey.