Ohio (from the other side)

I loved having quality time in Izzy’s home town, getting to know his parents, family and friends. Izzy’s parents, Art and Jean warmly welcomed me into their home and lives - taking us fishing, trying my strange food concoctions with a smile (Big Art even wanted seconds of my tofu burgers!), throwing us a family party, showing me around their workplaces and sharing so many dinners, laughs and memories. I spent a whole lot of time just relaxing; reading, eating and sleeping… we’re on vacation right? Izzy spent most of his time making fun of me for relaxing, eating and sleeping. I coined the new phrase, “taking a 400 day weekend”. I finished reading Harry Potter 7 – the last in the series. If you have not read the Harry Potter Series I really encourage you to. It is absolutely phenomenal. Nothing I say can do it justice. Just trust me; you will fall in love with the wizarding world.

I enjoyed hearing stories about Izzy as a sensitive little boy and seeing all of his photos. I laughed so hard, he makes the exact same facial expressions as always. Finally meeting Izzy’s buddies and having faces to match with names was so much fun. Woody, Dave and Ryan fully lived up to their reputations and were just the funniest, sweetest bunch of guys. The girls were lovely too. Unfortunately I only had a chance to hang out with Heather, Mindy and Cortney briefly, but I could tell we would be fast friends if given the opportunity. We watched the VP debate with Jean, Izzy shingled the shed with his dad, we had lots of homemade apple cobbler and ice cream, ate peppers, tomatoes and concord grapes right out of the garden and had the most lovely time. Thank you Ohio crew of friends and family – you are so great and I am so glad I got to meet you all finally!