Post #33: Finally Getting to See our Grandson

So I never expected it would be more than 10 months since I last posted to my blog. I certainly thought about writing a new post countless times, and what I might write. Although we were unable to see our Fiji-residing family for more than a year, it was not for lack of ideas that I did not write. I thought about writing once again about some of my earlier Cooper care experiences, or post about our more recent Facetime interactions.

I certainly had been very sad to be so physically distanced from our grandson with no planned visit on the horizon due to Covid-19 travel prohibitions. But admittedly that was not the actual underlying reason for my lack of writing. In reality, I was extraordinarily busy during much of 2021, which did not afford me much discretionary time to devote to writing a blog post, but busy in much different ways than pre-covid.

Our life was changing drastically due to Jesse’s recent retirement. First we bought a condo in Telluride, Colorado, and lived there continuously for three months last winter. And as soon as we returned to our primary Weston, Massachusetts home, Jesse urged me to buy a house in Florida and list our Weston home for sale. So what took up so much time was house hunting and buying; preparing and maintaining our house for sale; sorting out, tossing out and packing up Weston; selectively identifying furniture and belongings to send to Colorado and Florida; receiving the transferred furnishings in both Florida and Colorado; and unpacking, organizing, and setting up our lives with all the contingent services and utilities in our new homes, etc. That left little time for writing, even though I would have liked to keep communicating through FinallyNana.

Another major preoccupation was preparing for our long anticipated 50th anniversary party to be held in June, 2021, amidst concerns about whether the celebration could even take place. Well before the covid pandemic paralyzed our world, we had been planning this large event for our exact anniversary date of June 19, 2021, at a lovely Cape Cod resort.

Of course, the plans had foremost included our grandson and his parents. When most of the United States closed down in March, 2020, we were fairly optimistic that life would return to some semblance of normality 15 months hence. However, as covid persisted way beyond our expectations, there was great uncertainty as to whether Cooper and his parents would be able to travel to the U.S. That weighed heavy on our decision-making as whether to persist with our party plans.

Due to a very controlling Fiji government which created an initial strictly enforced lock-down, banned international tourism and enforced severe quarantine protocols for infected persons or for those returning Fijians allowed country entry, Fiji managed to exist from the end of April, 2020, for a full-year without any new cases. Stacy and Jason were eventually vaccinated with Astra Zeneca in the spring of 2021.

As most of our potential guests were getting vaccinated in 2021, and Massachusetts was loosening its regulations for large gatherings, we decided to follow through on our evolving anniversary plans. We were hopeful that Fiji might resume international flights to allow our family to attend. Unfortunately, our hopes were dashed when the Delta variant hit Fiji shores in April, 2021, with exponential cases, throwing Fiji into another restrictive country lockdown. Schools and businesses were closed. Stacy and Jason accommodatingly entertained Cooper by creating a menagerie of creatures made from the cardboard boxes that came home filled with foodstuffs from the market.

Jesse and I had a wonderful anniversary celebration among many family and friends, despite our immediate family’s absence,

Yet we were wondering when we would ever see our grandson in person again. Facetime continued to be our primary means of connection, better than nothing but far from satisfactory after so long, as we counted the increasing months of family separation. When Cooper turned five years old in August, I realized that we were sadly never together when he was a four year-old. The best we could do was send ridiculously expensive Fedex packages of gifts and Stacy-ordered items, which we ordinarily would have brought to them when we got together, since we absolutely could not send ourselves!

The next big event on the family calendar was the wedding of our nephew Harley and his fiancé Emily in her hometown of Tulsa in October, 2021. Harley had even asked Stacy if Cooper would like to be a ring bearer at the wedding. Cooper loved the idea. Once again we were hopeful that we would finally get to see our Fiji family, with our separation being extended to one and one-half years! And how exciting when we opened a package that Stacy had ordered to our house to find a pair of appropriate dress shoes for Cooper to wear as part of the wedding party. This surely meant that Stacy was becoming more optimistic about this trip actually occurring.

But despite Fiji’s efforts to limit the spread of the contagious Delta variant and to vaccinate a large percent of their population, the government had not yet allowed resumption of regularly scheduled international flights. Seats on rare international flights needed Fiji ministry approval with no guarantee of a timely return flight. Furthermore, by late summer Delta was surging in the US, especially worrying Stacy about traveling with an unvaccinated child, even if the thought of keeping Cooper masked for lengthy travel hours was not worrisome enough.

Harley and Emily had a beautiful wedding which included Cooper’s cousin Maddie as a flower girl. Many of Harley’s family attended, but not his Fiji cousins.

Cooper's cousin Maddie on the right

But just about that time we had some excellent news: the Fiji government and Fiji Airways announced the resumption of scheduled international flights from the U.S. to begin December 1. Anticipating a big demand for Fiji travel and airplane seats, I got right on it, and in consultation with Stacy booked our flights asap.

However, arrival to Fiji also came with a lengthy laundry list of entry requirements to fulfill. Of course, we had to bring proof of vaccinations. We would also need to produce documentation of a negative covid test within 72 hours of our Fiji Airways flight departure. Also required was proof of health insurance that would cover us if covid treatment was needed internationally. To visit relatives in Fiji we were required to first stay at a Care Fiji Commitment (CFC) hotel for 3 nights and show that we had a pre-paid reservation to do so. We must also have a pre-paid reservation for a CFC airport transfer to the hotel. We needed to take a covid test at our CFC hotel 48 hours after arrival and test negative. And of course, we would need to take a covid test in Fiji with a negative result shortly before US return.

I booked the Marriott Momi Bay Resort because we had never stayed there. As long as we were required to stay at a hotel, we might as well make the best of it.

I contacted the hotel to arrange our CFC airport transfers. Anticipating picking us up after our hotel quarantine, Stacy booked a room at Momi Bay for the three of them to begin on our third night for a two-night stay, so Jesse and I extended our stay a fourth night. Thus our visit would start with a couple resort days together.

About the health insurance, I first contacted Medicare to ask if they covered us internationally but they do not. So I next checked with Blue Cross/Blue Shield through which we carry a Medigap policy. They would cover expenses for a covid infection treatment internationally but we needed documentation to support that. During a lengthy phone call, the BC/BS customer service agent patiently sought out letters of coverages to email to us.

A couple weeks before departure, I began the process of booking our pre-flight covid tests. I booked mine at a CVS near our Florida residence for Sat morning in advance of our Monday night departure, as the results were expected in one to two days, fingers crossed! Jesse’s was more complicated because he would be at a meeting in Las Vegas for several days prior to departure. So we had to book him an expensive rapid test at Los Angeles airport between his LAX arrival from Las Vegas and our Fiji departure.

That might be all the Fiji-mandated requirements, but as soon as we knew that we could actually travel to Fiji, and especially for the holidays, I started buying gifts and clothes to bring for the family, and mostly for Cooper. I also located many toys, and odds and ends that were moved from our Weston house to Florida that Cooper might like. I felt more free than previously to bring more stuff as our Fiji family had recently moved to a bigger house, and I was no longer hearing Stacy’s prior lament, “We have no room for anything else!” Meanwhile Stacy similarly increased her ordering to our house of many items from Amazon and other vendors that she could not obtain in Fiji, and of course, holidays gifts for Cooper. They all kept piling up to the extent that I determined that Jesse and I would each need to check an extra duffel bag of Fiji-destined paraphernalia.

We would be with our Fiji family for 2 & 1/2 weeks, but away more than three weeks including travel time and pre-stay hotel days. This would be a long trip to arrange dog care for our 5 year-old English springer spaniel Oliver. He had been moved around more than any of the other dogs that lived with us, and fortunately was very people friendly. Oliver went to Telluride for last winter, came back to Weston when we returned in March, subsequently moving with us to Florida in September. Oliver had a new dog sitter who stayed with him at our Telluride condo when we left in January for my Hawaii 70th birthday trip. In mid-October Oliver was left for two weeks with our Massachusetts-residing brother-in-law Alan and his wife Leslie who vacationed at our Florida house, while Jesse and I went to Telluride to ready the condo for our furnishings and receive the moving van.

For a several day trip to Boston at the end of October, my sister Carol kindly cared for Oliver at her relatively close Boca Raton house. But I needed to nail down different Oliver care for our lengthy upcoming Fiji trip.

So it was a relief when I was referred to local dog sitter Dawn who agreed to stay at our house for the first 10 days, to be followed by more visiting family, another mutually agreeable trade-off of dog care for vacation home use. My brother David and wife Tracy with two of their grown children will be at our house for the second half of our trip. That meant getting the house prepared for all arrivals. Of course, I also wrote copious notes on Oliver care as well as house and community operations. We’re already happy that Dawn’s relationship with Oliver has gone exceedingly well, described by Dawn’s cheerful texts, photos and videos.

Countdown to Fiji: Organize all paperwork of required Fiji entry documents, with copies for Jesse. Have all duffels packed, ready to send one with Jesse on his Friday, December 10 departure for Las Vegas. Saturday morning, December 11, my drive-through covid test at nearby CVS, with promised results arriving Sunday evening: negative, yay! Monday morning Uber ride to West Palm Beach airport. By early evening, meet Jesse at the Los Angelos Airport International terminal after his rapid covid test at LAX, results negative!

Check-in at the Fiji Airways counter: the agent asked for our required documents one-by-one but seemed to look rather briefly at each of them. After all the covid hoops we had to jump through, the agent rather perfunctorily checked us in, handing us our prized Fiji Airways boarding passes. Perhaps we would be more thoroughly scrutinized upon Fiji arrival.

What a long flying day and night, wearing a covid prevention mask continuously in airports and planes except for eating and drinking interludes. Typically, I have found that standard hospital masks are the most breathable rather than attractive accessorizing masks. But since Stacy had been ordering for herself and family colorful Vogmasks that were supposed to be more comfortable, I had checked them out online and ordered one for the long multi-segment journey even though it was significantly more expensive than I would usually pay. The extra price was worth it, and the Vogmask was the one I wore most of the trip.

Still wearing masks as we lined up at the border patrol line at Fiji’s International airport, we presented our passports and the immigration entry forms completed on the plane that were barely different from pre-covid forms. But surprisingly none of the other documents that we had meticulously accumulated and showed at check-in were requested again for country entry. We breathed a sigh of relief as we were admitted to Fiji. I messaged Stacy through What’s App to announce our arrival in Fiji, early morning 15 December.

Still two more days until we would see our family as Stacy did not know how strictly Fiji families would have to be separated from their visitors initially. She was delighted to hear we made it. When Stacy announced our Fiji arrival to Cooper that morning, he cried to her, “I want to go see Nana and Papa now!” That was very heartwarming, although we weren't quite sure whether Cooper’s motivation was actually fueled by seeing what we had brought for him or avoiding school that day.

Waiting to see our family for two more days was not so bad for Jesse and me anyway, having already waited for more than 21 months. And we had two days to begin recuperating from multi time-zone jet-lag with lots of beach and pool relaxation.

Friday morning was the start of a very big day. First thing we went for our covid antigen tests at the hotel testing center, mandated for taking 48 hours after plane arrival. A good start, both negative. Then waiting for the arrival of Cooper, Stacy and Jason, driving in two cars to be able to accommodate all of us and voluminous luggage on the return trip two days later to their new home in Pacific Harbor. By late morning Jesse and I situated ourselves in the open air lobby for a first look at arrivals. Not wanting to greet Cooper empty-handed, I brought along a well-preserved stuffed dragon that had been in our household since our son Ben was young.

And we were finally rewarded with their appearance amidst lots of hugs and kisses. What a marvelous reunion! The dragon was well-received, but of course, Cooper asked coyly, “Do you have anything else for me ?” And did we!

Stay tuned for Post # 34 to read all the fun we had with Cooper and his parents during our first vacation with them since March, 2020. Preview: it’s going great!

Meanwhile, Merry, Merry to all !!