24 Hours in Tulsa

My touch down to American soil comes in Chicago, but there is no one there to welcome me.  Not even an immigration officer.  Flights leaving from Dublin Terminal 2 to the US require passengers to pass through customs and immigration in Dublin, and I suppose it would be untrue for the immigration officer there to say "Welcome Home" when I'm still on Irish soil, so he doesn't.

My brother, sister-in-law and neice are waiting to meet me when I arrive in Tulsa and they say "Welcome to Tulsa" (which is truer, anyway, since Tulsa isn't really home).  In the spirit of Truth, what my neice actually says is something like "yah ahh gah yah", but it comes with a hug, so we can assume that means "welcome," too.

I manage to sleep from 10pm until about 5:30am.  16 hours of travelling will do that to you.  Fortunately, my aunt is up before me; they have a new coffee maker with more buttons than the last one and I am not sure how to run it.  Oh, the simplicity of the caffetiere!  I drink caffeinated coffee all day and still feel asleep on the stroke of 10pm.  Oh, the blessed rest of jetlag!

I check my email and am surprised to see an email from my mother.  She's not usually up at this hour.  Except this hour is not the hour that this hour used to be.  My mother is on the other side of me now, ahead of my time zone, not behind.  I can call her at 8:30 am and she will be pleased to hear from me.

I go out with my aunt to see my grandmother and take her to an appointment.  She gives me a hug and shows me the flowers recently planted in her front yard.  Now I know - we both love pansies.  I show her the pansy socks I am wearing - a souvenir from Dublin.

There is already mail waiting for me at my grandmother's address.  A gift from a friend.  And a financial appeal letter from my alma mater.  I slip these into my bag before we go out.

I meet the medical staff at the clinic and listen as they talk to my grandmother about her health.  There is a discussion about insurance, medicare, the cost of prescriptions.  I have never really paid attention to the details of these things before.  I am legally obligated to get an insurance plan of my own.  There will be a lot of fine print in my future.

We run more errands.  Being a passenger on the right side of the road feels so wrong.  We turn right on red.  We stop at the library.  I had not expected to be able to get a library card, because I had not expected to have proof of residency in Tulsa.  The librarian accepts the letter from my alma mater without question and hands me a new plastic card.  At WalMart, I pick up a box of honey nut cheerios and consider the array of Reeses Peanut Butter options.  I ask my aunt to stop at Panera for cinnamon raisin bread.  The woman at Panera gives me a new Panera loyalty card.  Later, my aunt points out the gym where she is a member, and asks me if I like working out.  Whether I like it or not, I will need to start if I am going to eat my way thorugh all of my favorite (high sugar) foods in the next few weeks. 

I spend the early evening with my second cousins.  We open the piano and I make an attempt at teaching the oldest how to match the written notes to the piano keys.  My aunt has the music to Ashoken Farewell, which reminds me of home Home.  I am out of practice, but I manage to play through to the end.