visitor from Kenya

In recent weeks I had a great surprise - Gerald from Kenya was coming for a visit to America! 

I met Gerald on my first trip to Kenya. He was assigned to be my driver for the weekend, or as I used to refer to these poor chaps as "my babysitter." Essentially, his job was to drive me wherever I wanted to go - dinner, shopping, touring. The babysitter made sure I didn't go where I might get in trouble and often had to give up their weekend to be at my beck and call. I had so much fun with Gerald that we kept in touch. Over the years I would often see him as I would pass through Nairobi on my way to other parts of the country or continent.

At our first meeting he told me that it was his dream to visit America one day. He has been saving his Kenya shillings for years to make it happen. Through persistence he secured a tourist visa. See America, he did! He went to Florida, Colorado, NYC, Washington D.C., Baltimore, North Carolina and more. A friend in Kenya told him that they must start calling him "a man of his word" because he (finally) made it to America.

On my visits to Nairobi he would tell me that one day he would see me in America. And he did. We had dinner at the inner harbor in Baltimore with his cousin.

Gerald now has other dreams to fulfill - becoming an airline pilot and family man. I look forward to the day he tells me he has also accomplished these. 

just Sheri, a witness to perseverance (and it's rewards)