From across the ocean

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I realized that I forgot to put up the few pictures I took with Byers family relatives while I was home. There was no organized family event while I was home, so I didn't have a chance to see many members of the Byers clan, but I saw Grandma a few times and my Aunt and a couple cousins, too.

My flight back to China left Des Moines at noon on Monday, so the question arose as to how I was going to get to the airport when both my mom and my sister were working. Luckily, Grandma happily agreed to take me to the airport instead. So, the morning of my flight, I was dropped off at Grandma's house at eight in the morning. We hung around and chatted for a while and then my Aunt Barb and cousins Brian and Jimmy came over to say goodbye (they live down the street from Grandma). At about ten o'clock, Grandma and I loaded up the car and took off on the 20 minute trip to the airport. She even bought me magazines for my flight!

When I was home in February, I had bought a pre-paid cell phone at Target and loaded it up with minutes. I knew I'd probably be home again within a year, so I figured I would just leave the phone at home and then use it again when I returned. Then, right before I returned to China, Grandma was talking about her upcoming trip to Florida and said she was a bit worried about contacting people if her flight was late. That's when I had the stroke of brilliance to leave my cell phone with Grandma while I was overseas. Over the past six months she has gotten a lot of use out of it and I'm always amused when I receive a call from her and the caller ID comes up as my cell phone number. Grandma made sure I had the phone again when I was home and then I made sure to leave it with her again when I left. Then, my first day back in Shenzhen, Judy my Chinese work contact called me and said, "Dawn, I called your US cell phone, but someone else answered. It wasn't your Mother...it was your Grandmother!" Judy was tickled pink that she had talked to my Grandma. And I am tickled pink that Grandma can be unexpectedly involved in my life, even from across an ocean.

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Photos

Cousins Jimmy, Brian, and I
Jimmy's eyes are closed, but I think it captures his attitude well.

Aunt Barb, Grandma B, and I
Too bad it's so blurry, but it's the only shot I got.