Around the World in 180 Days
15-May2001Tallahassee - Chipley, Florida
Atlanta, Georgia
I left Sarasota and bussed up to Tallahassee where a birthdad, Ajay Alakie picked me up at 5 AM in the morning in his pickup truck. Ajay was a contact given to me by Linda Hammer. He is a birthfather living in a little Floridian town called Live Oak.
I interviewed Ajay on the banks of the Swanee river. This was too cool as I had only know of the Swanee from the song..."How I love you, How I love you, my dear ol' Swanee."
Nature cooperated except for one bird that insisted on crooning to us…. So high pitched that the pick up on my camera was compromised. We waited and waited for his song to finish, but in the end we had to move.
Ajay has never searched for his 18 year old bdaughter, he feels that when she is ready she will find him, does not want to invade her life. He purchased Wahoo Ranch so that when his daughter finds him he will have a little piece of paradise to give her, a paradise that is being put together with love ... and hard work. Taking a tour of his ranch and listening to the plans he has for the place, touched me. The love this tender man has for his daughter has driven him to devote his life creating this little piece of God's earth for her. His quest to assist reunions took him all over the countryside in a Truck spreading the words "WAHOORANCH.COM - ADOPTEES AND BIRTHPARENTS SEARCHING" written on the side of his truck. Many people e-mailed him after seeing these words on his truck, telling him what these words meant to them. His book of poetry,
"Whoever, Wherever You Are", written to his bdaughter, has also give him a public profile, with many TV and radio appearances. His website if you are interested in taking a look is
www.wahooranch.com.
Ajay took me to Tallahassee where I met my friend Mary. We met in a parking lot. I had been chatting online with Mary for nearly 12 months and felt I knew her well. She is a birthmother, a kindred soul, a tall red head with beautiful big blue eyes, who talks with a very funny accent... She seems to think I speak 'funny' but let me tell you, this is not so. Although I have had to back down and admit I do have the accent in the USA, as I am sadly outnumbered.
Mary was amused to think that Chipley was featured on my timetable, included with exotic cities such as Athens, Madrid and Barcelona... Chipley. In Greece, on Santorini island actually, I met up with a honeymoon couple from Florida, I told them I was going to Florida in a few weeks, when asked where, I said, "well Chipley is one place". This produced peals of laughter, as they said "Well you sure will be in the Boonies in Chipley." But the good news was that they knew where Chipley was.
The country in the area was beautiful... trees, trees and more trees. The landscape a little like my hometown area in Australia caused feelings of homesickness to surface, bigtime, during my stay. The beautiful tree lined roadways are a sight to behold.
We began chatting right away, went to lunch where she encouraged me to have Onion Soup with dollops of Cheese and Bread. This was new food to me. We drove through the South with this broad accent ringing in my ears, chatting as though we had known each other all our lives. Actually she told me her accent was a mixture of New York and deep South. I loved to listen to the dialogue, especially coming from her husband Bob, the sweetest man you would ever want to meet, lots of
Y'all came ringing out.
After an hour and a half. we drove into Chipley. I was careful not to blink, as I would be sure to miss my first glimpse of a real southern country town. We passed WalMart, and many other little places, then, PIGGLY WIGGLY!!!! I began to laugh as Mary pointed out this little Grocery Store… Piggly Wiggly!!!! Now this did amuse me, who would have chosen such a name, I thought only in America!!!!
During the week Mary and I were together, we exhausted ourselves chatting, going to WalMart and generally trotting around Chipley. We laughed uncontrollably when we would get home from an outing exhausted, needing a nap, Bob would ask us "Well what have y'all been doing to make you so tired?" We would look at each other agree that we had not been doing much at all, just cruising around Chipley. Mid-week her friend Kathy had a luncheon in my honour, this was a riot, so much laughter and chatter and great food, her friends were warm and welcomed me with open arms.
I observed this tall redhead we all know as Mar, 'do her thing' with her community.One day we were on our way home, Mary swung the car in a different direction with no explanation; we pulled up at an Aged Care facility, where the elderly people had their own apartments. I asked where we were and Mary said, "Sarah just crossed my mind so I thought I would just check in on her as she has not been well". Turns out Mary assisted to save her life at Bingo the previous week. Mary's instincts were sharp, Sarah was in need of assistance to get to see a doctor. Mary swung into gear, within ten minutes she had Sarah a doctor's appointment and the old lady's fear was put to rest. Her involvement with the Cancer society was honoured last year and whilst with her I could see why. I went to a two hour meeting for the major fundraiser of the year for this little town, the annual "Relay for Life", their enthusiasms and dedication to this cause warmed me to this community, it was a perfect example of many people, peacefully working together to raise money for a cause they all believed in. Many there were Cancer survivors, our Mary included, others were just people who believed in the cause.
The Saturday before I left Chipley, Mary and Bob took me to their son's Graduation Ceremony, we then went to a luncheon at a local restaurant. I walked into this restaurant and was horrified at how filthy it looked, I could not believe Mary and Bob would go to such a place, then I saw the Barrel of Peanuts, ahhhhhhhh it was a place where they supplied the peanuts and you could peel the nuts and just drop the leftovers on the floor, I was relieved and ready to eat. We had a wonderful family time, I felt so welcomed into their lives. Mary would want me to tell you that this restaurant was her son Charlie's choice (right Mar).
The graduation luncheon over, we drove 5 hours to Atlanta where we stayed with Mary's brother and sister-in-law. Once again this family welcomed me with loving arms. Sunday, Mary and I went for a drink to Peachtree Tower, 72 stories of concrete. The elevator was on the outside of the building, you know the type that give you a panoramic view, my hands began to go clammy and I was anchored to the floor with my legs astride, hanging on for 'dear life', my tummy in a knot, anyone who suffers from Vertigo will be right there with me at this point. I survived, but made sure I searched out the internal elevators on the way down. The cocktails were $15 for a small glass, wine $12 a glass, way too expensive for me, so I had my first beer, a "Bud Light" for $5.
Atlanta is an incredible city; from the top of the Peachtree we could see 360 decrees, as the top of the building revolved. This city was beautified for the Olympics and they did a good job, from our vantage point we could see the meeting square and the Olympic stadium, the athletes' village. I asked Mary where all the houses were, gazing out to the horizon I could not see the expanse of homes one finds in cities, she smiled and said they are under the trees. The well-established trees hid the 'burbs', it just looked like a forest, wow, I was impressed. The city was just as beautiful driving around the streets visiting all of Mary's old haunts and her friends and relatives.
Bob and Mary drove me to the airport on the Monday, my heart ached to leave them, I held back my tears until I book my baggage in and then went to sit by myself to cry, I missed them even before I left the airport.
Our Mary is well loved and respected by her community, by her family and by me; she is a friend I will have for the rest of my life.
My love and hugs to you all,
Wendy
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