A Week with My Ma
My time in Spain has given me so many things, like the aforementioned experiences of my previous blog. But recently, I’ve enjoyed yet another wonderful experience. My Ma, as I call my mom, came to visit me in Spain during her vacation time from work. I knew I was in for a good time because this was her first time traveling to Europe since she was my age almost 40 years ago and my Ma and I have quite the fun filled relationship.
Her trip could not have got off on a worse foot. After being bumped from her flight in London, she arrived in Madrid to find her luggage was nowhere to be found (or seen again until she had already returned to Chicago). I met her in the airport as she was crying, the
only thing I knew to do was to promise her that I’d take care of it and not to worry about anything and remind her that she was here and we were going to have a great trip. We began our trip spending Easter and the following couple days in Madrid (waiting in vain for her luggage). I had purposely not visited a few monuments so we could enjoy them together and both for the first time. We then departed from Madrid to travel an extensive tour of southern Spain, hitting such sites as La Mesquita in Cordoba, the Sierra Nevadas in Malaga and the Balcony of Europe in Nerja. It’s hard to explain the problems we ran into and the fun times that came from dealing with them. At one point we rented a “buggy” to tour Cordoba for the sole purpose of using their office to store our luggage because the lockers at the train station were “fuera de servicio”.
I’ve known my Ma my entire life, but there is something about traveling with someone that without even realizing it brings even the closest of people closer together. Aside from the disastrous situation with airliners, we spent ten amazing days together. I felt compelled to share this experience with my teammates and blog readers because Coach is always sending out emails about remembering to appreciate your family and after this trip was over I know that I had given my Ma possibly the best time of her life. I can not picture my Ma happier than when I would look over to her on the bullet train or see her play in the Mediterranean Sea like she was 12 years old.
-Funston