Victor’s Harvard Graduation Week

What a week it was. Seeing Sara pregnant, witnessing Victor’s graduation, then a great weekend in Vermont. Fabulous!!!!! Now some highlights and details.

As usual, Victor, and his family were great. It is heartwarming how the kids love Sara.

I was very proud of myself for not crying when I saw Sara in her current condition. So radiant, so happy….so pregnant. Yikes, it is really going to happen. I will soon be a grandpa…of a NY Yankees fan…… I did not cry then, but I am getting teary now…..

Having us all together again before the graduation was a reminder of the wonderful time we had at Sara and Victor’s wedding when we all met for the first time. It is heartwarming how close we have become since meeting as relative strangers then. I feel we are now just one big happy family.

But, the main event was the next day. I have been to quite a few college graduations in my lifetime. My own (3), my kids’ (3), friends kids’ (many). But none were like this. A Harvard graduation, particularly at the Kennedy School, is a unique pageant.

Finally, it came time for Victor to actually receive his diploma. Alas, I was not well positioned to capture the event, but I got the essence of it. Of course, Victor is not my actual son. That honor goes to Lolita.

But, pride burst out of my chest (and Sara’s, I assume) anyway.

The rest of that day was a bit of a come down for all of us. Barbara and I, along with Sara and V

ictor, attended the all Harvard address by the female President of Liberia, while the rest of the family rested. She is a sterling example of the success of a Kennedy School graduate. Very stirring. On Friday, Olga-Maria and Marianita took off for Guatemala and the rest of us had a nice dinner at the John Harvard Brew House in Cambridge.

The Saturday departure of Hugo, his family and Lolita for New York City, left the rest of us

to go off on our Vermont weekend. Victor drove a tiring seven hours to Smugglers Notch Resort, with stops along the way for lunch (unforgettable ice cream, in Woodstock) And at Quechee Gorge for beautiful views of the Vermont version of the Grand Canyon. Quite impressive.

Barbara’s cousin, Bill Stritzler, owner of the resort, provided us with a fabulous two-bedroom condo.

Bright and early, for me anyway…around 9am, we set off for our day of local touring. We started with breakfast at the Von Trapp resort. Overpric

ed and not very glamorous, but something we had to do being so close to “The Sound of Music” as we were.

Next came a tour of the Teddy Bear Factory near Burlington. This is the first, and still only, place in the US where they make teddy bears. In every imaginable outfit. I thought of Bunny continually. The tour was great, but alas, no samples.

That had to wait until our next destination, the Ben & Jerry’s Ice CreamFactory.

But on the

way, we realized we were near the tour book’s recommended…..”Al’s French Frys.” Yes that is the spelling. Indeed,

they were great. What else would you expect from Al’s?

Early in our trip, Sara remarked that the Moscosos travel to shop and the Weinsteins travel to eat. And eat we did. Even me, who is rarely hungry, ate anyway.

Last stop before dinner was the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory. Being a dairy state, there are many excellent ice cream places. But, there is only one Ben & Jerry’s. The factory is closed on the wee

kend, so the tour was kind of flat. But, we got the full story of how the wh ole thing started and how the stuff is made. And, we got a free sample of their newest flavor. Called the Jimmy Fallon flavor, it was basically vanilla with chocolate covered potato chips and salted pretzels. A combination of ice cream, carbs & salt. Quite good.

In the gift shop, I bought a mouse pad that said…”We came, we saw, we ate….ice cream” The story of our trip.

The B&J visit ended with a stop at the “Flavor Graveyard”, where Barbara found the tombstone of her beloved Ga. Peach. My favorite, Cherry Garcia, is still going strong as the top-selling flavor. V

anilla, the first B&J flavor is still hanging in there at #10. NY Super Fudge Chunk, a long time favorite of both Barbara and me, is #6.

Dinner that night was also memorable. It was with Bill and Viola Stritzler, second cousins of Barbara, whom she had never met before.

They own the resort. It was fascinating to talk with Bill about the resort in particular and the Vermont tourist and food industry in general. I love peeking into other people’s life experiences. He was very open to all my questions. I was very impressed with his people skills, dr

awing Victor and Sara into the conversation by asking them specific, pertinent, questions. Barbara had laryngitis, so I had (!!!!!) to do most of the talking for us. Tough job but somebody had to do it.

When we departed, Bill, seeing Sara pregnant, invited them, and us presumably, to return with the baby for another stay at this family oriented resort. We just might do that.

The trip home started with breakfast with another Stritzler cousin, Suzanne, in Jeffersonville. It was Memorial Day and there was a town parade. It seemed like all 2,000 residents turned out. A truly American experience for Victor.

On the way out of town, we stopped at an antique store. Outside they had a wooden rocking horse that had on it… “Sara and Victor’s baby”. Over much objection from Sara, we bought it for him. A final souvenir of our weekend. I cannot wait to see him on it.

The Cabot Cheese Factory was our last stop in Vermont. Another tour and some more sampling of the product occurred. Good stuff!!!!! It turns out that this cheese is lactose free. So Victor can enjoy it. They are big cheese fans.

Our Tour guide told us all about how they make the cheese

New Hampshire had our final three stops of the trip. The first stop was in Bethlehem, where Barbara’s father was born. That’s Bethlehem, NH, not Palestine!!!!!! It seems that his mother suffered from asthma and had to come to the clean New Hampshire air for the final days of her pregnancy.

On the way out of Bethlehem, we briefly met the son of

Barbara’s friend, Martha Gabriel, David. He was a gracious host. But, we

had to hustle off.

The middle stop in NH was at the time-share I own at the Village of Loon Mountain. I have owned it for about 30 years and only have stayed there once, maybe 25 years ago. Over the years, I have exchanged it for condos all over the world. I was curious to see how mine stacked up. Not very well, in fact. Nice, clean, but quite dreary and very vertical. Three bedrooms on three levels. A

nd no air conditioning. I will likely never stay there. Exchanges will be my use for this. Unless the kids ever want to come for a summer week.

The last stop on our eating weekend was for lobster at Brown’s in Seabrook, NH. Nostalgia for our days in Westford. The lobster is still great….as are the onion rings. Victor and I had lobster while Sara and Barbara had chick

en. Sara prefers chicken and Barbara’s stomach was not up to the melted butter that goes with lobster. Dessert was our final ice cream chance in New England. Mine was a great mocha chip sugar cone. More than anybody should eat, but I was up to the task, with a small assist from Barbara.

We arrived home at S&V’s place around 9:30. Victor drove the whole almost 700 miles. Without his glasses which he somehow lost during the graduation.

The evening ended with pictures of my new, to be, grandson. Sonograms. To be honest, I barely saw much. But, Barbara was ga ga. I will wait for the real thing.

A brief

and inadequate visit to the Peabody natural history museum in Cambridge….and lunch with the kids in a Middle Eastern restaurant, ended the trip.

During my final goodbye hug with Sara, I was finally unable to hold back the tears. Even now my hearts skips a beat as I think about it. This was another “Peak Life Experience” week, as Barbara calls them.