Talk About Your "Be Careful What You Wish For" !

[howeird]

Since before I met her in 1989, my friend (let's call her K) has been a regular visitor to a small village in a tiny country. The village "adopted" her on her first visit, and she became good friends with one couple and  over the years helped send at least one of their children to school. The husband passed away about 10 years ago, and K wanted to bring the wife and two of her sons to visit America when they were out of high school. They were at that age about 5 years ago. She paid the $100/person non-refundable visa application fee the first time around, and was pretty miffed when the visa officer arbitrarily denied the applications. There is no appeal for those single-bureaucrat decisions, which strikes me as highly un-American, but that's the way it is. Last year the wife (let's call her F)  tried again by herself and was denied again. This year she was granted a visa, good for 5 years. I expect some extra-curricular dollars may have changed hands, but that's beside the point.

Almost immediately, K bought F an airline ticket, and made reservations for some of the places she likes best in the western US. When F arrived they went shopping to get her sturdier clothes, and then it was off to Yosemite. They came back after a week and other friends threw a party for F, which I attended. She seemed fine to me, but K was hinting that it was like having a kid with you. Hard for me to visualize, as F is about my age.

After a trip to Sacramento to see F's relatives, she was sent by herself to a friend's out of the area with whom K had had a falling out (for many years they went to the village together).   

The plan was for K to bring F out to Sedona, Phoenix and the Grand Canyon, but this morning I was surprised to receive email from K in LA that F had gotten so homesick, and had become such a burden that she flew home today, 12 days early. She said it was a relief, and is on her way to Phoenix later today.