One of the things I was most happy about getting to do during my road trip was visit some family in Charlotte, NC, who I had not seen in years. By years, I mean 15. The last time I saw most of them was in March 1999 when I was in North Carolina to visit colleges. That's a long time.
It worked out well to break up my time in the city and spend 2.5 days with Hema Masi in north Charlotte and then spend 2.5 days with Dada and Baa in south Charlotte. Both visits were awesome, and I would love to share these fabulous people with all of you in the world of the interwebs.
Hema Masi is one of my parents' oldest friends from their earliest days in Memphis. She lived in the same apartment complex as them, and she has been an integral part of all our lives for nearly 37 years. She continued to live in Memphis after my parents moved to Helena, and almost all of my childhood memories of trips to Memphis include staying with her. She moved to Charlotte about 20 or so years ago, and although we have kept in touch well, up until this summer I had only seen her twice in the last 15 years.
The timing of my visit to Charlotte worked out perfectly to spend a few days with Hema Masi between her work trips, and we had a great time. We had some delicious meals, we went to the movies, we watched the Tour de France, and we chilled. She has literally known me since the day I was born, and it was so nice to reconnect with her as an adult and to hear some of her stories. She has traveled to a number of far-flung corners of the earth and was in the process of planning a trip to Alaska while I was there, and I had a blast listening to her talk about past journeys. And it was just generally so wonderful to spend a few days with someone who is essentially my second mother.
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| [with hema masi in downtown charlotte] |
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| [cruising downtown charlotte on a friday night] |
From Hema Masi's house I traveled to the other end of Charlotte to spend a few days with my mum's masa and masi, my adopted dada and baa. Dada lived in Missouri when my parents first moved to the States, and he used to travel to Memphis nearly every weekend to see them. Dada and Baa are two of the sweetest, most absolutely genuine people I've ever known, and it was so very nice to get to spend some time with them.
Dada and Baa live with Hitu Mama, their youngest son, his wife Preethi, and their daughter Shruti, when she is home from college. It was raining for most of my 2.5 days with them, so Shruti, Dada, and I spent the majority of the days curled up on the couches watching reruns of television shows from the 1960s and 70s. And it was glorious. I had not seen any of them in 15 years, and it was wonderful to catch up on what I've been doing and to hear how the years have been for them. As luck would have it, my second night with them was also Hitu Mama's birthday, so he, Preethi Mami, Shruti, and myself went out for dinner and then cut a cake once we returned home.
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| [happy birthday, hitu mama!] |
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| [with dada and baa] |
Although I didn't do much in terms of sightseeing and the like during my days in Charlotte, I cannot imagine having spent my time any other way. It was so nice to simply spend time with my family, to chat and catch up and relax, and I loved my time there.
There's nothing quite like a little family time to recharge your batteries and set you straight again.
xx
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