Cindy and Mark Come to Lucca

The Szadokierski world tour has arrived in Lucca.  Our friends Cindy and Mark arrived Thursday to spend a long weekend with us, and it is great to have company, but especially great to have them.

Cindy and Mark might legitimately be called world travelers and maybe even jet setters.  Both are retired from United Airlines, and Cindy’s last job was Vice President of International Airport Operations.  Prior to that she was in charge of United’s operations at O’Hare Airport in Chicago.  She has visited six continents (all but Antarctica), 75 countries, and in her last year working for United flew 4 MILLION miles.  She was the first person I contacted for suggestions when we started planning this trip, and Lucca was among the places in Italy that she listed as worth investigating.

I have known Cindy since her freshman year in college at Randolph-Macon.  She and Shelley were among the pioneers on Randolph-Macon’s first varsity women’s basketball team at a time when women’s basketball was just taking off as an intercollegiate sport.  I was just out of college and was the assistant coach for that team, which built a foundation for the teams that have followed at Randolph-Macon, including one that played for the national Division 3 championship nearly ten years ago.  When Billy Wood and I were given permission to start a varsity team in the spring of 1977, we hustled trying to find girls (make that women) interested in coming to Randolph-Macon and playing basketball. 

They, and we, had to overcome a lot of ignorance about females and athletics.  Early on, an athletic administrator told us that we couldn’t expect females to be serious about sports, that they would never come to practice on a regular basis.  What made that comment troubling was that it came from a female athletic administrator.  That first group of basketball players proved the doubters wrong.  They worked hard, had a winning record in their first season, even defeating the University of Richmond, and by the time Shelley and Cindy were seniors, they played for the state small-college championship.  But what I appreciate most about that group is what great people they are and how close they’ve remained with each other through the years.

Once we knew we were coming to Lucca, we invited friends and family to join us, but all along we thought that Cindy and Mark would be the most likely to accept, with the only issue being whether they could fit us into their busy travel schedule.  They sold their house in Chicago back in the spring and are living in Richmond temporarily while building a house at Southport on the North Carolina coast.  The last month has been quiet for them, as they have only travelled to Maine, Florida, and Connecticut, but after leaving here on Sunday they will head to Bologna in Italy and Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Colmar, and Paris in France, all between now and the end of July.  Cindy is particularly looking forward to seeing Strasbourg, because she grew up in Strasburg in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.  I’m guessing her home town and its French namesake don’t have much else in common.  Between now and the end of the year they will travel to Mexico, Australia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.   

Cindy and Mark spend a fair amount of time in Cambodia because of a charity they are involved with, A New Day Cambodia.  They are also just becoming involved in a second Cambodian charity based in Richmond, 100 Pounds of Hope, which was started by a Khmer Rouge survivor who now lives in Richmond.

They arrived by train Thursday afternoon at 4:15.  We were going to pick them up and walk them back to the apartment, and it was a bright, sunny day, but an hour before we were supposed to leave, we heard a rumble that sounded a lot like thunder.  Shelley thought it must be some workmen moving something, until it kept rumbling more frequently and more ominously.  It started to pour just after three, but amazingly cleared up right before it was time to walk over.

We were assuming that they had been to Lucca and would have a list of things they wanted to do and places they wanted to see, but it turns out they have been to Lucca only once, for a day.  Once we arrived at the apartment and got settled, we took them for a drink at one of the cafes in Piazza Anfiteatro, and then we went to eat at another café located right by the venue for the Lucca Summer Festival, where Elisa and Rufus Wainwright were playing.  Elisa is an Italian pop singer who is very popular in Italy, but I had never heard of her (I apologize if she is a huge worldwide pop star and I am the only person unaware of her and her music).  I had heard of Rufus Wainwright, and vaguely remembered that he is the son of two folksingers, Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. 

When J.D. was here we had a conversation about entertainers who choose to go by only a first name and how presumptuous and risky that is. You can get away with it if your name is Cher or Sting or Lassie, but otherwise you run the risk that common folks like me have no clue who you are.  .  When I was young (this will truly date me) there was a TV show set in high school called “Room 222,” and the cast credits at the end of each episode included “Heshimu as Jason.”  I thought that was cool, and during high school aspired to be referred to by a single name.  My first choice was “Mobutu,” until I realized it was already taken by the corrupt dictator of the Congo.  In looking him up online I discovered that his full name was Mobutu Sese Seko Ngbendu Wa Zabenga. He should be forgiven him shortening his name to a single name, but not for his corruption and cruelty.

Dinner, the conversation, and the music were all good.  I can’t say that I recognized any of the songs I heard, other than a duet of “Hallelujah” at the end.  Cindy thought she recognized a couple.  As I find myself saying on a daily basis, it was very pleasant.