Tricia Lands in Bavaria

If you had to guess where I’m writing from, it wouldn’t be a stretch to speculate I’m either on a train or a plane, or in a train station or an airport. This time it’s an airport – at least as I begin this post. I’m sure I’ll be wrapping up my writing on the plane and then posting all the pictures once I land, this time maybe in Chicago or perhaps not ‘till I’m on firm ground back in Minneapolis. So, as I write, I’m sitting near a big wall of windows in Terminal 1 of the Munich Airport, overlooking the runways and the scurrying airport vehicles speeding around below me. Because of other adventures I’ve had leaving this city in the past, I planned for a lot of time today in case of canceled trains or long security lines. This time, there were neither of those and I quickly cleared all the hurdles to be here in time to enjoy a croissant and coffee, and have a little time left over to write.

Today’s reason for heading home? Tricia will be going into the Mayo Clinic again on Tuesday, for her first big round of tests since the radiation to her eye several months ago. There’ll be a whole series of tests, checking the eye to see if the tumor has stopped growing, and in essence, whether the radiation did what it was supposed to do. Tricia will also be put through a full body scan again to rule out that the cancer has spread elsewhere in her body. The plan, then, is to meet with the doctor Tuesday afternoon to get all the test results. The real plan in my head is that we’ll hear only positive news, skip our way out of the clinic, grab a beer somewhere in Rochester, then move forward to a happy, exciting spring. If you send us your positive thoughts and vibes, there’s a better chance that real plan will be the one that happens.

Tricia’s doing well these days, but still dealing with some blurriness in her eye and some residual tiredness from all she’s been through. It’s hard for her not to worry about the upcoming test results, so she has spent the last couple of months in a state of constant anxiety, not knowing what’s next and trying her best to avoid “worst-case-scenario” thinking. She found a support group to be a part of – a place called “Gilda’s Place” founded by the late comedian, Gilda Radner – where she goes once a week to talk with other women who are dealing with cancer or who are cancer survivors. She likes the group but admits that she’s not exactly sure if it’s better for her to talk about her cancer once a week or to try and just put it in the back of her mind. It’s a journey, for sure, so what feels good or doesn’t feel good for her today will likely change over time.

On the brighter side of things, you may have noticed that it has been some time since my last post. That’s because Tricia visited me recently – yeah!!! – and while she was here, we were just too darn busy for me to sit down and write. Tricia came to Starnberg and stayed with me for around 10 days, back in mid-January. The downside was, I didn’t have time off, so we only had weekends and evenings to hang out. Me not being around much didn’t stop Tricia from having a great time, though. She was more than happy to have an apartment to herself to relax in – sleep late, drink coffee, do a lot of reading and to put on the miles walking all around Starnberg – the lake, the hills, the town, to my school. She made the most of the relatively brief time she was here.

One of the highlights of her stay was the chance for her to meet and spend time with many of the friends I’ve become close with while working at MIS and living in Starnberg. We did a Munich live music brunch Sunday morning with some of the Munich crew, a Greek dinner one night in Starnberg with many of the Starnberg folks and back to Munich for a night of jazz the following weekend. And in the middle of the week Tricia spent a couple hours at MIS seeing some people for a second time, others for the first. She, like me, thinks I’ve found some pretty awesome people here in Bavaria to spend this adventure with.

Before her visit came to an end last Monday, Tricia and I spent an overnight in Salzburg. A great time. The train ride from Starnberg is an easy couple of hours, much of it spent looking out the windows at the snow-covered German and Austrian Alps. In Salzburg we actually spent the night at the same hotel that Tricia, Donna, Nathan and I stayed at when we did a two-week European vacation back in ’98. Some parts of the hotel had changed, but much of it hadn’t. It was a bit of a step back through time.

Probably the best part of our time in Salzburg was a free student concert at the Mozart University, a concert that featured 15-20 teenagers playing solos, duets and small ensemble classical music pieces. The quality of the musicians was super high, and it felt like we were likely seeing musicians who will find their way one day to major orchestras all around the world. The concert was one of these little gems you’re sometimes lucky enough to stumble upon while traveling. A memorable experience to say the least.

Okay, I guess that sums things up for now. Just watched “Joker” on the airplane while “enjoying” an in-flight red wine and meatballs and mashed potatoes meal. I’d give the movie a very solid “meh.” I’ll probably get through a podcast episode or two - "Catch and Kill" is my latest - before we land, listen to some Greta Van Fleet, maybe read a Harlan Coben paperback that was recommended to me by a friend, and possibly drift off a bit. I have two layovers on this flight, the first I’ve finished already in Amsterdam, the next I’ll do in Chicago. So after a super long day, Tricia will pick me up and I’ll hit the sack with Mocha curled up at me feet. Wish us well for Tuesday. Look for an upcoming post with all the details. Ciao.