Eva J

Judy. In October, when we were in Lithuania, I got an email from my dear friend and teaching partner, Eva, telling me that doctors had diagnosed a mass near her spleen as malignant cancer, but not to worry, cancer is no longer a death sentence. A week later, she passed away. 

Eva and I taught together for ten years—she, chorus, and I, drama. Every year we collaborated on the musical; working with her was a dream. 

Tommy, her husband, also a dear friend, asked if I would deliver one of the two eulogies at her memorial service held last week, the other being from a fellow music teacher. These are the words I used to try and capture a soul bigger than life, with a flame that inspired all who knew her. 

Eva was one of a kind. Well, we’re all one of a kind, and she’d be the first one to tell you that, but she was REALLY one of a kind. I don’t know how she managed to be tough and kind all at the same time, but she did. Maybe it was the way she said, “Baby,” before she came down on you. All who knew her loved her for it. 

When I came to our local high school to start the drama program, Eva had the choral program well in hand. And she kept me in hand. I think Eva taught me how to be a high school teacher. To be fair, the last time I had taught was in a university setting, so I was a bit out of my depth. One day, I said, “Eva, these freshmen are driving me crazy!” To which she responded, “I know, Baby. They’re acting just like 14-year-olds.” “YEAH…, oh, Eva!” 

Eva and her students adored each other. She got them, and they got her. 

She had the courage to recruit all manner of boys into her Men’s Chorus class at 7:30 AM. When the gastric problem some of them faced kept interrupting the class, she decreed one corner of the room the “Special Effects Corner,” so boys could step away, break wind, and still continue singing without disturbing the class. Who else does that? They loved her. And their mamas loved hearing them sing “for the first time since they were in the children’s choir at church.” I don’t think they knew about the “Special Effects Corner.” 

Many of those boys loved her class so much that they made it into Mixed Chorus. Being in Mixed Chorus was great, but for the girls, to be in Women’s Chorus meant you’d arrived. So many of those girls went on to be music teachers. 

My favorite line of hers was “Raise your hand if you’re stupid!” when one of the kids made a mistake. It worked. The student raised her hand, the correction was made, everyone smiled, and class went on. An assistant principal, observing her, later said, “Eva! You can’t say that!” to which Eva responded, “Why not?” What that AP missed was that when Eva made a mistake, one or more of them would say, “Raise your hand if you’re stupid, Ms. J!” And she would. Yep, they GOT each other. 

But Eva could cut to the chase, even while empathizing. In the 90’s, when the kids were using the term “gay” as a slur to each other, she stopped class one day and told them, “Ms. Judy and I don’t appreciate that. Both of us know people who are gay, and, frankly, right now, we know people who have died from AIDS. So stop that.” They did. At least around us. 

One horrible day, one of our kids accidentally killed his best friend, and was a devastated, shaking mess at home. Our principal asked us to go to his house to comfort him and his family. Honestly, I had no idea what to say to him. But when we walked in the door and saw that young man in absolute spasms of misery, fear, and pain, Eva walked right up, took his hand, and said, “Tell me what happened, Baby.” And he did. 

I could go on for days. When we drove to Alabama in the middle of the night to find my mother had already passed away, we called Eva to please go over and tell our kids. She did. 

And she stayed at the house the rest of the day, in case they didn’t want to go to school. It was the only day she missed that year, and she lost out on the bonus others who had perfect attendance received. 

She never taught our son, but, in 2000 she spoke at his Boy Scout Eagle ceremony. 

Both she and Tommy taught our daughter, and flew with us to hear her first concert at her university. We attended plays together. Their home was always open to us. Usually, we came home with food—homemade cake, bread, dinner, homemade jams, pickled and canned tomatoes.  And, good news or bad, Eva was the first person I’d tell. She could put things in perspective. 

The woman fiercely adored her family. She didn’t talk about it much, but she wore it, like her faith, as an aura that radiated to anyone who met her. 

One of the most valuable lessons she taught me was what to do when a former student came up whose name I didn’t remember. “Well, hey, Darlin!” This was a sign for husband Tommy to say, “I’m Mr. J, What was your name?” 

We are beyond blessed to have known Eva. Every one of us. I will truly never forget her. She impacted everyone she met with her joy, good humor, strength, and love. That light in her shines still. Thank God for Eva J.

Our journey home

Ted. On leaving the Azores, we still had thousands of miles to travel. For the next four days, we were literally at sea and saw almost nothing. And believe me, we looked. We kept our binoculars by the balcony and I constantly swept the horizon for any signs of life such as sea birds, dolphins or whales. With the exception of an occasional ship, and beautiful sunsets, we saw nothing. 

However, we were never bored. Each day we were as busy as we wanted. We’d visit the gym, walk the track, listen to live music, watch a show, attend a lecture, savor a cocktail or enjoy a nice meal. We also found a lot of time to sit quietly and read. 

My favorite pastime was pickleball. The crew had set up a tiny (maybe 2/3 size) court that was surrounded by trip hazards and buffeted by wind. In spite of the less than ideal conditions, the space drew experienced players as well as curious first timers - some of whom got hooked and vowed to start playing regularly when they got home. 

It was always fun to bump into another player on the ship. One night, we were invited to join a couple of players and their families at dinner. 

We were honored to get to sit with John, Eller, friends and family

On October 29, we sighted land and came to rest at the Royal Navy Dockyard on Bermuda. We had been there before so all we did was stroll to the nearby “Glass Beach” so Judy could collect more sea glass for gifts. Then we popped into a bar for one of the famous Bermudan Fish Sandwiches. 

Judy also likes a Rum Swizzle

Everyone in the bar was watching CNN to see how soon Hurricane Melissa would hit the island. 

Returning to our ship, we learned that the hurricane would arrive in Bermuda in less than 24 hours so the captain ordered full steam ahead and we sailed due west for a day and a half - just missing the storm before turning southwest to Port Canaveral where our cruise ended on November 1. 

The adventures didn’t end there, though. Another type of storm had arisen and all US airports were experiencing thousands of delays and cancellations due to the government shutdown. Fortunately, our Delta flight from Orlando to Atlanta that afternoon was on time so we were able to catch our shuttle and have been safe in Athens ever since. 

We have lots of wonderful memories from the past 3-1/2 months and it makes me feel good that, years from now, we will be able to read through the archives of this blog and bring our journeys back to life. 

Now it is time for us to take a two month respite from travel and focus on friends and family. If anything interesting happens before January 1, when we fly to Asia for a three month visit, we’ll be sure to let you know. Meanwhile, Judy and I wish you good health and happiness through the holiday season and beyond.

Our front yard in Athens

The Azores

Ted. The Azores are a collection of nine volcanic islands that lie near the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 900 miles west of Portugal. 

The islands were uninhabited until they were discovered by the Portuguese in 1427 and have remained an autonomous region of that country ever since. 

Judy and I have always dreamed of visiting this remote place and finally had a chance during a stop on this cruise. We were filled with anticipatory pleasure on October 24 as we steamed along the shore of São Miguel Island to anchor in the harbor of Ponta Delgada, the largest city and capital of the Azores. 

It’s a fairly small town with just about 67,000 residents and it was immediately obvious from the architecture that the islands are part of Portugal. We had a nice walk around the town and explored a church, the fort and climbed a bell tower in the town hall to see the view. 

The Emigrants

The steps up the bell tower were the size of my feet!

But the view was worth it

We wandered around the city market and had lunch at a nearby café that catered to the locals. They found a table for us in the back and we enjoyed some delicious grilled tuna that had probably been caught that day. 

We notice that a number of tourists were there for an extended stay. Perhaps we will return one day. In the meanwhile, it was fun to get just a taste of the Azores.

Porto, Portugal

Ted. On our 2012 trip to Spain we also spent time in Portugal, which included a visit to Porto. So when we found out that this cruise included a stop there, we knew that we could simply relax rather than race around to see all of the sights. We chose to wander the neighborhood of Ribeira, which is the where the town was first born. 

Ribeira is along the river at the base of the hill

This was also where Prince Henry the Navigator was born. We saw lots of old tiled houses as we walked along the Duoro River. 

This street happens to be on the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, as witnessed by the yellow arrows and pilgrims that we saw. We wished them all well with the traditional Spanish greeting, “Buen Camino!” 

We hope this young Ukrainian couple find peace on their walk

After strolling  across the lower level of the famous Luis I bridge, we made our way to Gaia, the community across the river from Porto and home to all of the wineries. 

Gaia as seen from Ribeira

We proceeded up the hill to a new tourist attraction called the World of Wine. This cool complex built in repurposed warehouses, has 6 museums, a wine school, several restaurants, shops and event spaces. There is also a great terrace from which one can look across the Duoro to Porto. 

Judy and I paused for a little refreshment at a place with the clever name the Root & Vine. At the server’s recommendation, we tried a light cocktail called a Pale, which is a mix of white port and tonic water with a slice of orange. It really hit the spot and we have made a point to find some white port when we return to Georgia. 

We did have another reason for visiting Gaia that day. On our previous trip to Porto we had purchased a bottle of vintage 1977 port wine. Not only was this a 35 year old classic vintage of a very nice wine, 1977 was also the year that Judy and I were married. Since port is a “fortified” wine, one can drink an open bottle for years. We decided to have a small glass of this delicious beverage every year on our anniversary. 

Alas, that wine is long gone so we needed to buy a replacement. A few months ago I emailed the Fonseca winery in Porto to make arrangements to pick up another bottle of the 1977 during our short stop there. She kindly responded that they did not have any wine that old and that the oldest one available was a 1985. When it dawned on me that this wine would actually be older than the one we originally bought, I asked her to set one aside for us. True to her word, on arrival at Fonseca, she was waiting with a smile and our precious souvenir of Porto.