The Freeman

Flying to the USA, but not for good

-

In a few days, my family and I are all vacationin­g to the US, mainly to visit my sick 94-year-old father in Seattle, but also to visit San Francisco, LA, Las Vegas, New York, Florida, Atlanta, and Texas and Chicago if we still have the time. We can even drive to Vancouver and see Victoria Island, with my five children, their spouses and our three grandchild­ren. I wish they were big enough to enjoy Disneyland in California and Disneyworl­d in Orlando, Florida. I wish they were mature enough to enjoy Hamilton, or Les Miserables and other Broadway shows in New York. Definitely, they cannot join us in the casinos in Vegas, Reno, or South Lake Tahoe. I am not there to gamble. Ten relatives are casino workers.

Of course, I am not rich enough to finance this onemonth vacation with too big a delegation. I have a rich client who is paying for everything, first-class plane tickets, hotel suites, and all the drills. My client, a Filipino lady entreprene­ur from southern Cebu, our distant relative supposedly, (well, success is relative; the more success, her success, the more her relatives), married an extremely wealthy Arabian oil trader who is now dying of cancer, stage four. And I was the one who wrote his last will and testament. The dying man wants me to confer with him because he wants to amend his will, perhaps to include or exclude certain heirs, legatees, or beneficiar­ies. Also, he has to adjust the inventorie­s of properties, assets and liabilitie­s. And so, why not?

We are flying to San Francisco where my client has a mansion overlookin­g the bay and the

Golden Gate Bridge, and we are going to enjoy the view and the ambience. Two Mercedes Benz vans are assigned to us with uniformed Mexican drivers. Then we will go to Washington DC to see the Smithsonia­n Institute and the museums, my apos would be amazed and bewildered. We shall visit the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Memorial, and Kennedy's tomb with the eternal flame in the Arlington National Cemetery, where we shall see the changing of the guards. My client arranged for a private tour at the White House. Then, we will go to Disneyworl­d in Orlando. It will take one week for all of us to see all the outlets of entertainm­ent and enjoyment. We will take a look at the Kennedy Space Center. It will be both an educationa­l and entertainm­ent tour.

And talking of entertainm­ent, we shall see the ultimate paradise which is Las Vegas. I do not really gamble but the lights and the sparkles of the city and all forms of music, eating places, and entertainm­ent for the children will be incomparab­le. My cousins work in the casino and they will take us around where we will see ultimate places of enjoyment. Then we will drive to Reno and then South Lake Tahoe where we shall see the beautiful lake and the mansions and chalets of the rich and the famous. We shall drive to Stockton to visit our relatives in that charming farming community of flowers, vegetables, and fruits. We will have a meeting in Silicon Valley where my client has a 32-storey building with a penthouse, where he is lying and where he wants to die.

While in the US, I shall continue to write and share my insights about my travels and my experience­s. I am grateful for this God-given gift of life whereby I am allowed to work, to travel and to enjoy the many treasures of living. I am flying to the USA not for good but for the better.

'I am flying to the USA not for good

but for the better.'

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines