This past Sunday was definitely a day we’ll never forget. More importantly, it’ll be a time where we can look back at pictures and explain to Ryland why he can’t forget as well. Unless you’ve experienced what both Pia and my family has experienced with migrating to the U.S. without any money, not knowing the language, and our parent’s not knowing where we would live, then it’s hard to explain what took place on Sunday.
It’s been roughly 30 years since the first time the Terry family sponsored Pia’s family. Since then, we’ve remained in contact, but it wasn’t until our wedding nearly 2 years ago that Pia exchanged emails with Donna, that a chance to meet again could finally happen. Knowing that we were moving to the East Coast, we knew we needed to meet face-to-face and reconnect with the Terry’s.
It’s a strange feeling knowing that you haven’t seen someone for many years (in my case, never before), but it’s an unbelievable feeling to share stories and memories with those people in a way that seems like there hasn’t been a day that has gone by without one another. I think we’ll all take away a lot from this Sunday and I know we all hope there will be many more Sundays like this in the future.
We had a great time meeting the family and was even able to connect via Facetime with Pia’s mom and dad and Kelly so that they could also see the Terry’s. The reason Ryland will never forget this day is because Pia and I won’t let him forget. We won’t let him forget the families in both Pennsylvania and San Diego that has helped our family when we needed help the most. Because of this, all of our families are intertwined in a way that few could understand, but is remarkable on every front, as we are all one big family.
