"Sarah Goes Traveling Alone"

As a little girl, two of my favorite stories were Louise Eppenstein's "Sally Goes Shopping Alone" and "Sally Goes Traveling Alone". Little did I know at the time, one of these tales would turn out to be a prophecy in my own life.....or rather, my daughter's life. In these stories, Sally learns both the inherent joys and unanticipated fears of attaining true independence as she accomplishes a rather involved, complicated task all by herself. Much goes wrong for Sally as she shops and travels, but amazingly, she ends up where she is supposed to, and all ends well. When Sarah called me from the Denver airport to inform me that she had left her passport at home, and consequently would be taking a later flight to Mexico, and that she had also forgotten her Spanish phrase book (a rather important item for a non-Spanish speaker).......oh, and she was having trouble contacting the guy who would be able to contact Sra Ana, the person who was to meet Sarah at her new apartment at a specified time, a time which now needed to be re-specified.......and then she was informed by a Customs Clerk that a return flight receipt would be necessary in order for her to get through the customs process (she had no return flight), and her phone was broken "even more than before", and, and, and.............all I could picture in my mind was Louise's Sally, reincarnated as my Sarah........

Hearing her voice over the phone, I knew instinctively that all Sarah really needed from me was reassurance that all these little fiascos would not turn into disaster.....that she WOULD make it to Cuernavaca, and that all would end well. This morning I was ecstatic to see her appear in my little video screen on my laptop via Skype (an absolutely FANTASTIC internet tool!)---she carried her netbook around, showing us her new Mexican bedroom with its "own" bathroom, numerous windows overlooking multiple green growing things (somewhere hidden among them the roosters that so rudely woke her up this morning)......and also happily displaying her fresh bakery items that she had so bravely acquired "all by herself"!

Sarah made it to Cuernavaca and is quickly figuring things out......tomorrow it's off to Language School, then to buy a disposable Mexican phone, and to find out where she can get a Latte with low-fat milk.

Feliciatones, mi hija bonita! Usted lo hizo!