In 10 more days Chuck and I will be arriving in Budapest and I will once again be able to spend time with my brother, sister and their families. It has been three years since our last visit. Three years….it seems like ages ago and yet, it feels like only last summer. I’m excited, nervous and anxious about going again. How silly to have these feelings. After all, this is not the first time, and hopefully not the last. But time and distance plays a role in the anxious anticipation I feel.
Putting all that has happened into perspective is overwhelming to me. The reality of the search, the heartache, the dead ends, the joy of finding these two people of whom I am their sister was nothing short of a miracle to me. How is it that I have a brother and sister in Hungary? How is it that we speak different languages and live very different lives? We are worlds apart and yet, when we are together I feel at home.
Seven years ago, after more than thirty years of searching and two previous trips to Budapest, I was able to meet two siblings I knew nothing about. Circumstances, luck, blessings, compassion, determination and a global stretch of friends and kind people all made this union possible. But most importantly, the love and support of my husband, my kids and my parents is what gave me the strength to keep going. Without them this would not have been possible.
As I reflect tonight on our upcoming visit I am so grateful I will have this chance again. The chance to look into Laszlo and Marta’s eyes, to hold their hands and to share in the love and joy we have for each other. We lived so many years without knowing of each other and we don’t know how many more years we can have together. Blessings are to seize and our lives are ours to define. And so we make another journey. We will take off from where we left those three years ago. I will rejoice in all I have learned and experienced. I will soak up the love from Lazslo and Marta and give it back to them ten fold. They welcomed me those seven years ago without any reservation. We became family and we are all happier for the blessings shone upon us.
I sit in anticipation, I buy the gifts, I talk with my nephew about the plans we have so far, I count the days until we leave and I dream about my chance again. The chance to feel at home and share the love in Budapest.