Greece & Turkey

Julie said she had never been to Greece or on a cruise. She was excited when I suggested the 7-day Athens with 3-day Iconic Aegean Cruise with Gate1. We booked about ten months in advance. It was a good thing her internship happened to start three days after we are scheduled to get back from the trip. Otherwise, it would have been the second time she couldn’t go with us after the trip was paid for.

We looked forward to visiting Greece, the “cradle of western civilization” and the birthplace of democracy, with deep traditions and rich culture in religion, music, language, food, and wines.

 

Tùng and Vy came to take care of my mom. They came a day early. My mom was excited to see them. Tùng took Tom and me to the airport early in the morning before everyone got up. We flew to Newark where we met with Thal and Julie, but they had to pick up their checked luggage and couldn’t get back to the gates right away. Tom and I spent our time at the United Club while Julie and Thal caught up with sleep in a hotel room. We got back together to catch the non-stop Emirates flight to Athens from Newark.

 

It’s interesting to note that Emirates gets high marks from the Gate1 representative, my brother Tùng, and the Uber driver for Thal and Julie; but I didn’t have the best experience with their service. Its terminal in Newark Terminal B is crowded and not nearly as nice as Terminals A and C. They didn't respond in a timely manner when I called for help with the screen at my seat blanking out, and then they did not reset the screen as they said they would.

Day 1 - Athens

 

After we cleared passport control and got our luggage, we met with the Gate1 guides. George was our driver and Stella was our welcoming host. On the way to The Golden Age Hotel, Stella gave us some information about the people and the culture of Greece. Big mountains cover about 80% of Greece. The country is surrounded by deep blue seas with 6,000 islands of which only 227 are inhabited. Stella and other tour guides were eager to show us what Greece has to offer and encouraged us to tell others about Greece and to come back to visit again. Stella gave us a map of Athens which she had highlighted the interesting areas. She told us how to use the metro system.

 

I didn't expect a 4-star hotel, but the Golden Age Hotel sign indicates that it is. We rested a little before exploring the streets and finding a place for dinner. We came back to Tabepna, a restaurant a block away from the hotel, to eat. I enjoyed the meal very much. We shared sourdough bread on ember, cheeses, potato salad with pickled eggs, fried giant beans, moussaka, cabbage dolmas with egg-lemon sauce, grilled octopus with fava, and ekmek with mastiha cream and tsoureki (very delicious dessert). Thal wanted to try Mastiha, a Greek liqueur, but we didn’t have to order it since each of us was given a complimentary shot, which was nice.

We had stopped at a grocery store before dinner. Thal bought some snacks and I bought a bottle of red wine. We shared chocolate and wine when we got back to our rooms. I was so tired and fell asleep quickly at 10pm. But I woke up two hours later and had trouble falling back to sleep. Unlike me, Tom slept very well.

Home is Where You Are - Poem for Thy, Maya, and Max

Thy, Maya, and Max
What beautiful angels you were
Together you graced our earth
Gifting us with joy and laughter
Memories we will hold in our hearts
Throughout our journeys of life
You were a force of nature
Full of fire and light
Passion filled your desires
Adventures spread your hearts wide
The world you have created
Will not be broken
We who were lucky to be in it
Will carry it on
Memories with you will guide us
To see the treasures on our paths
To grasp the chances we’ve got
To live life to the fullest
To learn that rules can be broken
But love will never stray
Though we no longer see you
We know your spirits are with us
You are Home wherever that may be
And Home is where we all will be

My Mother's Daughter

I walk fast. I inherited this trait from my mother. I always thought that this was not a positive trait. I wasn’t ashamed of it. I didn’t try to change it. I just knew I wasn’t perfect. I didn’t fit into the ideal image of a proper Vietnamese young lady who carries herself in a graceful manner. I thought walking fast also meant I wasn’t relaxed and that wasn’t good for my mental health. I thought I needed to slow down to smell the roses and sometimes I did, but my basic instinct is to walk fast each time I take a walk. My mom used to tell me she was a very good walker. During the wars between the French and Vietnamese Nationalists, she walked long distances from the village where she lived to far away villages inhabited by the mountain people. She brought and sold white cloth to the mountain people, had the white cloth dyed with different colors, and brought the colored cloth back to her village to sell. One time, my mom was hiking in Shenandoah National Park with us and our dog Cupid. It was a long hike with elevation gains. At one point, Cupid slowed down. My husband remarked “Cupid is 70 years old in people’s years.” My mom wasn’t impressed, “And I am eighty!” Nine years ago, we had a family reunion in Outer Banks. While visiting the Wright Brothers National Memorial, I asked my mom where she’d like to explore next. There was a group of us (mostly adult males) heading to one location. I asked my mom if she wanted to follow them or to explore another part of the park. She said to go to another part, because “those people walk too slowly.” I love to tell this story. My mom was 90 years old then. She is now 99. I take her on a daily walk. I slow my steps for her. Despite her advanced age, my mom still has the tendency to walk fast. Sometimes my mom has this energy that fuels her steps and that causes me to have to increase my pace to keep up with her. I’ve been telling her to slow down because I don’t want her to exhaust herself. But I just read an article about the factors that affect longevity.  This is from the article How Old Are You (Really)? in the April-May 2026 issue of the AARP magazine: “People who rated their walking speed as brisk had the longest life expectancy out of nearly half a million middle-aged adults studied, compared with slow walkers – no matter their body mass index (BMI) – according to an analysis in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.” So now I have to rethink my approach. I may have to encourage my mom to walk fast, or at least to not tell her to stop walking fast. I probably inherited the longevity gene from my mom since I inherited the brisk walking gene. By choosing the “Brisk” answer to the question “How would you describe your usual walking pace?” AARP says I can subtract as many as 14 years from my chronological age to arrive at my biological age. How about that? I am glad I am my mother’s daughter. 

Cougar Crew Day March 2026

Guest Writer: Tom

Tom rowed at Washington State University as an undergraduate student. He did not row again after he earned his bachelor's degree from Pacific Lutheran University, until he joined Texas Rowing Center in December 2024. Now he is hooked. He can talk about rowing for hours. He has participated in tournaments and decided to go back to Pullman to have a chance to row as alumni versus the undergraduates. He was thrilled to be back. This is his account of the trip.

Because of threatening airport delays, Tran got me to the airport early. I breezed through security and was at my gate in no time. I splurged on an Einstein bagel, brushed my teeth, finished reading the essay by Jane Cruz, and boarded my flight to Seattle

I was in a back row in the middle seat, but it did not bother me. I read, slept, and listened to a book on tape. I had about an hour and a half in Seattle and then got on the plane to Pullman. That also went surprisingly smoothly. I retrieved my bag and got my rental car and found my way to my hotel quite easily even though Pullman has changed a great deal since I set foot in the place 50 years ago.

I found the place where the first event would take place. It was a six-minute walk from my hotel. So I struck out to walk some of the streets that I knew. In particular Stadium Way.

I found where I lived as a grad student. It was a room in a house, which did not look to be in good shape. Most of the houses in that area were the same way (not in good shape).

I kept walking all the way down Stadium Way. I was curious to see if one particular grocery store was where I remembered it. It is not, but it is just across the street from where it used to be.

Along the way, I saw many churches that I don’t remember, including an Islam center. I found the Lutheran Church, but it’s not where I remember it to be. Perhaps they sold their old building and moved.

I walked back and took a shortcut past the house I lived in and came out on the top of a big hill just as I expected. But the view from there has changed radically. Both the football field and the baseball field have been moved. Other buildings that I don’t recognize replaced them. At least the Colosseum has not changed places, and I could use it as a landmark for walking back. The baseball team had some games going with both Grand Canyon and UW. I did not stop there and pay the admission since my own event was starting shortly.

I went into the Student Recreation Center, which is celebrating its 25th year. There were Cougar Crew signs all over the place and it was hard for me to miss where I was supposed to go. I heard a familiar voice and called out to Mike Klier who responded. We took some pictures and chatted. The bow of the Cougar One was on display and that was pretty cool.

Boat on display at the Rec Center

With Old Coxswain

The undergrads took time to listen to me ramble on about this and that and were unfailingly polite. I met some people and the typical conversation is about when you rowed and where you rowed and what was the equipment like. I don’t know when they moved the shellhouse from Boyer Park, where I rowed, to Wawawai, which is where it is now.

Looking through breakwater at Wawawai

There were talks given, and I milled around, enjoying talking to both undergrads and alums.

It was interesting that the rec center had a very nice Go set, a chessboard, a jigsaw puzzle set out, and a shuffleboard table. Over on the basketball court I saw somebody practicing juggling four pins. I walked through the gym that is there and it was interesting that it did not have a single rowing machine.

WSU is on spring break today and Ferdinand’s Bar and Ice Cream Shop is closed so I did not go there.

The next day, the weather threatened, and we were not sure that we would get to row. So the very loose plan was “well let’s just go down there and see what it’s like.” I was supposed to get there at 9:30, got there at 9:20, and we finally made a decision about 10:30 that the weather was just fine for rowing. In fact, the weather turned out to be beautiful. While waiting, crews from the undergrad team were coming in. They have a lot of boats now and the program is much larger than when I was there. They have two docks for launching and returning and use both sides of each dock. Piles of shoes lay on the docks when I got there. All of this is different than when I rowed.

It took a little while to gather the four that would be rowing in the quad I was in. Fortunately, one of the four was a very good bow man who could use his foot to turn a rudder. It was a lot of fun being on the river. It is so pretty. The river is huge. The banks are steep and covered with grass.

We did take the boat out ourselves, but the current coach really wanted the undergrads to take care of the boats and the oars for the alums. And in fact, once we picked our oars, undergrads came by to take them down for us … and put them into the riggers for us! I’m not sure if I felt like a VIP or a hapless old guy. But it was really sweet.

The bow man, who lives in Seattle, did a very nice job of getting us warmed up and putting us through a few starts and a few tens and we were ready to go.

It did not go very smoothly, but probably 2/3 of the strokes were pretty good. We were the only four (four men in a boat) so for us to not come in last was pretty good since everyone else was an eight (eight men in a boat).

After the race, the weather was very pleasant and we stood around eating scones and pastries, and doing more chitchat. When it was time for me to leave, I did, but I did not go straight back to Pullman. I swung by Boyer Park and was as impressed now as I was then about how pretty hilly wheatfields can look in the spring. I tried to capture a few of those with my camera.

Old Shellhouse at Boyer Park

On the road to Boyer Park

I had a little downtime before my next event, so I slept and walked a little more and went into the coliseum. I was a bit underdressed; it was kind of a formal affair, but I wasn’t the only one who lacked a jacket. At least I was wearing a nice sweatshirt with a Cougar Crew emblem on it. More talks, a nice dinner, and an auction for donated items took place. The keynote speaker was Bob Ernst, a former longtime coach at UW. He certainly sold me on the value of club sports, especially those that are well supported by alumni, which is what WSU is. I rowed during Cougar Crew’s nascent days and now I view a program with paid coaches, excellent equipment, and it doesn’t even use private cars to get back and forth from practice. All of this, and we’re not part of the athletic department. Cougar Crew does not row with the big boys of the sport; they’re part of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. But Ernst convinced me that we shouldn’t even want to be there. He pointed out the value to the school and the notion of the “walk-on” athlete, and Cougar Crew has nothing but walk-ons. To be sure, we “recruit,” but that’s only to encourage students to come out and try it.

One of the speakers was my old coach Ken Struckmeyer who alluded to the successes that the program has had, and he mentioned guys who were doing well at masters rowing. That was a nod to me.

Coach Ken Struckmeyer

The auction was a hoot. It had a professional auctioneer team (auctioneer with two guys watching the crowd). The auctioneer kept up the auctioneer’s banter and I do believe that he more than made up for his fee with the increased bids. A lot of money was raised. Anything that had a face value (e.g., Mariners’ tickets) went for far more than its face value. I think almost every item was donated.

Eventually, I got tired and left. It was a bit chilly and dark so I was happy to get back to the hotel. I read a bit and conked out.

The next morning it was 29 degrees. I had a car and my flight didn’t leave until 3:30 in the afternoon, so I drove the 90 minutes to Palouse Falls State Park. It was a very nice drive and my Kia Kona was very easy to drive. The drive was very pleasant and the views were really nice. I didn’t remember Palouse Falls as being very scenic, but it really is in the Spring.

I drove back with plenty of time, and I was scheduled to talk to my friend from WSU anyway so I talked to him through the car as I drove around Pullman. Eventually, I went to the airport, allowing ½ hour for returning the car and an additional 45 minutes for getting to the gate. It took me about 6 minutes total. I had to wait for TSP to open the security because mine was the only flight leaving.

Flights to Seattle and Ausin were smooth and routine. George picked me up and I was in bed by 1:00 AM.

Not So Scary Dumbbell - 100-word snippet

We had childproof locks on all doors except the door to the balcony because it sits eight feet off the ground. My 99-year-old demented mother somehow got out this way. Before we could install a childproof lock, my husband lugged a 100-pound dumbbell to block the door. In the process, he had to rest several times and injured his knuckle. When he told my 6-foot-4 son-in-law about the ordeal, my son-in-law picked up the 100-pound dumbbell as easily as I picked up a 3-pound one. He said, “You see I can do this, yet I am afraid of your daughter.”

A Restless Day

George, my grandson-in-law, wrote this about me. I suppose he wrote this for his children who may read this in the future. 

Hey, everyone!  Do you remember that we live with Mama's 99-year-old grandma?!  You do!  Well, can you believe that same 99-year-old grandma scaled a 3 foot wall and made it to a ledge that even yours truly has fallen from?  You don't!  Well then my friends, let me tell you; THAT HAPPENED!  I won't even tell you that she did with about 20 pounds of books in her backpack.  No I won't.  I also won't tell you she made it about a 1/2 mile before deciding it was time to get into some stranger's car (Tom was there) to get back.  All of this is very serious, but I do find it slightly amusing that she would rather drag her backpack on the brink of exhaustion than let that thief Tom help her.  

I remember that day, the day I “scaled a 3-foot wall.” I had to. There was no way out otherwise. 

That was in the afternoon. I was up and about since four o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t sleep. My brain went on overdrive for some reason. I tried to open doors to the outside but could not. I went to the other side of the house. I don’t always remember who are on that side. I opened a door. Apparently it was a bedroom. I decided to explore the upper floor. I went up the stairs, wondering what I would find.

My daughter appeared all of a sudden. I took some medicine she gave me. She told me to go back to my room. I went back and decided to unplug everything on my end table. I thought I needed to take these items away from here. I took the lamp, the clock, my hearing aids, the power strip, and all the hanging cords with me. That was a lot to carry in my hands. I asked my daughter to turn on the lights for me. She didn’t. I asked her to open the doors for me. She didn’t. She told me it was night and to go back to sleep. She wanted to take the items I was carrying from me. I didn’t let her.

I was too awake to go to sleep. I wasn’t sure what I was carrying in my hands. I needed to figure out what they were. I spread them out on the floor and sat down to examine them. They all looked foreign to me. So I spent a considerable amount of time looking at them, turning them upside down, and trying to figure out what parts go where. 

Finally there was some activity in the small kitchen, I went out. My son-in-law gave me breakfast. Then he took me on a walk. It was too cold for me, so we turned around and walked back home. I wanted to tell my daughter that we needed to go back to Vietnam, but she said she was still in bed. I was a little tired. I lay down on the black lounge chaise. My son-in-law sat there with me and put a blanket over me. That was peaceful and nice. The sun was soft and beautiful. I dozed off. 

My body needed rest, but my brain was on a move. I was on survival mode. I needed to leave. I figured the communists were coming. It wouldn’t be a picnic living under their rule. My granddaughter and her family already left. My daughter stubbornly wanted to stay. She doesn’t know the communists the way I do. She never had to live with them. I did. I was going to stay back with her, but in the end I could not support her decision. 

Perhaps the communists were not coming, but my parents were living in terror under them. I needed to be there for my parents. I begged my daughter to take me home to Ninh Tảo where my parents lived, but she refused. She is selfish. She wanted me to stay with her. I told her I’d be back to see her but she didn’t listen.

Perhaps there were no communists, but I missed my parents. I missed my brother. I wanted to go home to live with them again. I invited my daughter to come with me. She has never seen the place I was born and grew up in. It would be fun to have her there. Besides, if she came with me, my parents wouldn’t scold me for going away from home for so long.

Something was wrong. Although my daughter didn’t say it, I had the notion that she changed her mind about going to my birth place with me. My great-grandson used to come and horse around with me. It must be that he didn’t like me anymore because I hadn’t seen him. The only reason I could think of for their changes of hearts was that some people had told them bad things about me. I tried to tell my daughter that all of that was not true. It was all a misunderstanding.

I had packed. It is hard to know what to pack, more clothes or more books? This time I decided on books. That made the backpack heavy. But that didn’t deter me. I am very determined. When there is a will, there is a way. I tried to leave through ordinary doors but they were all locked, except the door to the balcony. I guess I would have to leave my daughter behind, but at that moment, I didn’t even remember I had a daughter. All I knew was that my parents and brother would be so happy to see me again. It had been too long.

It is a little tricky to get out via the balcony. It sits high up from the ground. But I found a corner near the front door that is not too high up from the door step. I saw a green bag in the balcony. I didn’t know what was in it, but you never know what you may need on a long journey home. I managed to climb out of the balcony, taking my backpack full of books and what turned out to be my great-grandson’s swim bag with me. 

I walked down the street. I was sure that I would know the way home. I hoped it was not too far because the backpack was pretty heavy. I didn’t even have my walking shoes with me. I told myself that I was strong and I could handle this.

Imagine my surprise when I saw my granddaughter while I was walking down the street. She wanted me to get in the car she was driving. She seemed panic stricken. She was on the phone with someone. I was glad to be picked up. I wanted her to take me to the airport so I could fly home. But she took me back to the house where we all lived together. My daughter came out. I begged her to take me to the airport. She told me to get out of the car. I refused. She tried to take the green bag away. I wouldn’t let her, but my great-grandson said it was his. So I let it go, but I hung on to my own backpack. And I definitely was not getting out of the car.

I think if I stayed in the car long enough, my daughter and granddaughter would have to relent and take me where I wanted. After a while, my son-in-law came out and talked to me. I am very fond of him. He’s gentle and he likes to take me places. I agreed to take a walk with him. I chose to carry my backpack with me. I didn’t want to lose it. That was all I had now. If I was to go back to my parents, I’d need my backpack.

I walked past the stop sign where I usually turn around on my daily walk. But I kept going that day because I didn’t want to go back to the house. After a while, I was tired. I sat down to rest. I’d love to get into any car that would take me to the airport. I found a car that appeared to stop for me, so I tried to get in. My son-in-law held me back. He explained that it was the postal service car and it stopped to deliver mail. That was too bad.

My youngest son called. I talked to him on the phone. He told me he’d pick me up to take me to the airport. He asked me to let my son-in-law help me carry the backpack. Some stranger offered to take me somewhere, I got in his car. My son-in-law did, too. To my disappointment, the stranger dropped me back at the house. I didn’t want to go in. I wanted to wait for my son to pick me up. While we were waiting, I took my son-in-law’s watch off of his wrist. I thought it would be useful to have a watch. I tried to tie it to my backpack.

I don’t remember what happened after that and how I ended up inside the house. I think I had dinner with my daughter later. I did not have lunch that day, I was too worked up to eat then, so I was pretty hungry. My daughter offered me ice cream after dinner. I accepted. That is always one of my favorites of the sweet things. I was so exhausted after a long hard day that I let my daughter brush my teeth instead of brushing them myself as I always did. Going home to Ninh Tảo would have to wait for another day. I was so ready to get into my comfortable bed. I pulled the blankets over me, closed my eyes, and drifted to sleep. I hoped to have many sweet dreams to make up for a restless day.

Stubborn, Me? - 100-word snippet

My mom was so determined to “go home” to her childhood place that she climbed out of the balcony which sits eight feet above the ground level, except at the corner near the front step where it is only three feet high. She “escaped” at this corner, lugging a very heavy backpack full of books and pulling another bag with her. When Lan found her grandmother and brought her back to the house, she refused to come in. I said to my husband, “Lan got the stubborness from my mom.” He replied, “And it didn’t skip a generation, you know.”