Airport Lounge

I won't take it as a bad sign that I stood on line at the LOT counter for about 75 minutes waiting to get my ticket for an economy class seat. Nor will I take it as a bad sign that there is a thunderstorm heading to Chicago. It's not a bad sign that my flight is delayed by 2 hours. All of these things are offset by a young man at the JAL lounge who let me into this peaceful airport oasis without charging me.

I met two British teenagers, a brother and sister, with a last name of Graham. They asked me why I was traveling to Poland, and when I told them of my genealogy adventures, they told me that their heritage was Polish Jewish, too! The family name used to be Grinbaum. I showed them some preliminary research steps on Jewishgen, and I believe that they are hooked. They have my email address. We'll see if there is follow up.

I spent the last four days celebrating Jennifer's graduation--ceremonies, rituals, lots of eating, all the family. It was a wonderful opportunity to see the future in Jenn's path and to think about how far our little family has come. My mother, father, and father-in-law would be so proud.

And now I turn to the future and past again as I fly to Krakow to meet my father's cousins-- members of the Munk family--and to visit the places my family lived a long time ago.