Like Christmas in Killarney with all of the folks at home

I attended every Zoom meeting we had to plan our family’s trip to Ireland, but I really just nodded and smiled a lot.

As I mentioned, I never thought the trip was actually going to happen. I just thought it was fun to dream with the fam and I enjoyed watching the travel experts in our group do their thing.

Vinnie even made us a PowerPoint presentation with various options. How cool would it be if we actually did any of that, I thought.

Imagine my shock when I found myself sitting on a plane at O’Hare about to take off for Dublin.

And, imagine my panic when Ed and Katherine, the navigator of our first leg and the other agreed-upon driver, who were supposed to be on that plane with us, got stuck on the tarmac in another plane, unable to get to our gate just a maddeningly few yards away.

“My current plan is to circle the Dublin Airport in the rental car until Ed and Katherine arrive,” I texted a hot family text chain.

The hiccup didn’t surprise me. I just knew something was going to go wrong. But it did make me wish I had paid closer attention to where we were headed when we landed.

The doors closed, the pilot began his welcome spiel and then, miraculously, the doors reopened and Katherine and Ed appeared. First crisis averted.

I cheered and a few fellow passengers, who had been following the saga with me, joined in. We even squeezed in some sweaty hugs before the plane took off.

Our Ballina segment went beautifully and the five of us made our way south, through Galway, to Killarney where the plan was for the whole family to gather in an Air BnB there.

Vinnie and Danni were joining us from Morocco, with a too short layover in Paris. Much to my happy surprise, they arrived right on schedule.

Killarney itself delighted us all, with its friendly people, nightly pub music and stunning scenery.

The Vinnie-and-Danni-planned portion of our trip took us through some breathtaking places.

So that went well.

And then, just a few days after Vinnie and Danni arrived, I got to stand at the depot in Killarney and welcome Charlie and Tara.

Every single person had arrived.

It felt like Christmas right there in Killarney and all of the folks were home.