Sixteen years

It was sixteen years ago today that my family and I emigrated from the United Kingdom to the United States and landed in San Francisco. As it happened so long ago combined with me being five at the time means that I do not have many memories of the day, but I can recall a few events that stand out.

I remember that there had been heavy snowfalls in the United Kingdom that February (far more than the recent snow here), and both my parents have said that we were supposed to fly out the day before, but the weather had delayed us (my grandparents were supposed to meet us at the airport, but they had been snowed in).

I do not remember a lot before the flight, unfortunately, but during the main journey I recall being awake the whole time: during this period I mainly kept Dad awake (something he did not appreciate and would keep reminding me of in years to come) while my mother and brother slept. Using some paper and pencils (or crayons, I am not sure) that I have been given, I did attempt to draw some television characters and bugged Dad with that too. The other part of the flight I remember was Dad and I going to the cockpit, and seeing us fly above the clouds from the front of the plane is my strongest memory of the day.

The next part I remember is waiting at San Francisco International Airport for our luggage. After that, the last part I can recall is leaving the airport, with it being the early evening outside and the weather warm and sunny. The earliest memory I have after that moment is from the next day.

It is hard to believe that all of that, plus more, happened sixteen years ago. We did not expect to be moving back to the United Kingdom over fourteen years later, but I guess that is the ways things go. At least in today's world we can keep in contact with anyone anywhere on the planet...something that we did not have in 1996.