With Winston Churchill’s Granddaughter No Less
Despite losing my fist born son to adoption, I have to admit that I tend to lead a pretty charmed life. Granted, even without adoption there have been struggles, trials, tribulations and heartache, but then, like now, I am amazed by my good fortune. And the truth is, as I have said before, it is often adoption’s silver lining; being involved in this great work we call adoption truths has lead me to some amazing adventures. And I am about to go off on another one!
It was at the Adoptee Rights Protest in 2010 in Kentucky where I met Rhonda Noonan. She was still finishing up her memoir written as an adoptee searching for her family. I was pretty impressed that she had a story that really read like a TV driven tabloid version of an adoption fantasy. She really IS Sir Winston Churchill’s granddaughter. It’s pretty much the equivalent of finding out your dad is JFK or Elvis or a Beatle ( oh wait, we have a Beatle’s adoptee too!) For those who don’t know, I built her books’ website and I do PR work for her and that’s pretty cool enough. And then, maybe it was March of this year, she asked me if I had ever been to the UK and did I have any interest in going?
Hell Ya! I Have Wanted to Go to London Since I was Sixteen!
Since my days of the Cure and Siousxie Sioux, the only place that might have been cooler than the lower east side on NYC, was London itself. I always had dreams of “crossing the pond” but never had the chance to soak up those delicious English accents on location. In fact, until now, I have not ever left the continental USA except for a one day cruise trip to Jamaica when I was 18 and newly pregnant with Max. I just always thought that IF I was lucky, then perhaps I could travel after my kids were grown. Given that I have been raising children for the past 23 years and still have a good 10 years to go, I wasn’t holding my breath.
So I jumped at the chance.
Rye need a tiny bit of convincing that this was an opportunity of a lifetime and if I didn’t go I would be wearing very sad pants indeed. He, thankfully, understands that a wife NOT going to the UK would mean a very unhappy and resentful wife. I said yes and while I was in San Francisco, Rhonda had texted me about purchasing the airline tickets. Once I said go for it; the deed was done and I was England bound.
So crazy excited.
Prepping for the England Visit
So, the one thing I had to do was go and get that passport. I ALMOST applied for one about 16 years ago when I was supposed to go to Paris with the boyfriend, David, but then I was “uninveited” to Paris, so I never bothered spending the money on the passport thing.
Luckily, I am NOT adopted, so from the time I filed out the paperwork and the time I actually received my passport, it was two weeks. While I am happy to have mine in hand, the speed and ease for which I got my documentation did piss me off. If it’s that easy for me why are so many other adoptees having trouble getting the very same US passport? It really is quite unfair.
Other than that, I have a beautiful red faux snake skin suitcase which we picked up for my birthday. And I have to add global services on my phone which is a major requirement because my job as a travelling partner is to document and share Rhonda’s homecoming trip.
It’s the Bastard Love Child Homecoming Tour
And that is the thing. It’s not MY trip. It’s Rhonda’s. This is the first time she will be in her grandfathers’ beloved England and a full tour of historic Churchill landmarks is on the itinerary. Now mind you, I am JUST FINE with that! In fact I am thrilled. We have a great trip planned! Like I am the one that feels like some version of English royalty! With the focus being on Winston Churchill’s life and important places, we get to do some amazing things like travelling to Chartwell and Blenheim Palace, plus Parliament and the Churchill War rooms in London. I’m super stoked as one of the final stays of the trip we will be staying at Beryl and it looks like a set from Pride and Prejudice. Just call me Mrs. Darcy! And yes, I will be bringing my hat!
Plus, we are trying to hook up with AdoptionLand peeps in the UK including, possibly, meeting Philomena! I am welcoming and very open to any suggestions and possibilities for folks to meet up with. Really. Please….. get in touch!
And when we go to Somerset we are meeting with one of the top UFO/ Crop Circle specialists in the country. Now you might laugh, but I happen to spend too much time when I have insomnia watching Discovery and National Geographic channels Alien / UFO shows. Yeah, the guy with the crazy hair on Ancient Aliens cracks me up, so I kind of dig this stuff and crop circles are just weird.. so I am looking forward to it all!
The general itinerary of the “Bastard’s Homecoming Tour” is as follows:
- August 20: Rhonda Arrives here in Albany and we hang out in Kingston.
- August 21 at butt o clock, Rye takes us to Newark Airport for out 9:00 am flight.
- August 22 to August 25: London
- August 25 to August 27: Oxfordshire
- August 27 and August 28: Westerham
- August 29 to Sept 1: Somerset
- September 1: back to London and we fly out the 2nd
I will say that for anyone wanting to try to meet up during this time that the best way to get me will probably be by text or phone. And yes, that is the “official” number listed here.
The entire trip with be documented live via social media, but look to Rhonda’s pages, not mine! So both Facebook at and Twitter @5thandFinalName will have the comings and goings! I’m already concerned about my limit of 200 MB of data usage on the “global” plan so I won’t really be able to post in both.
So it might have taken me longer than I ever planned to leave the states, but wow.. so with the wait. Who can say that they are going to England with THE Winston Churchill’s granddaughter? Oh that would be me!
