The Story Behind Our Trip

In 1969,  a young couple packed up their most valued earthly belongings as well as their two most precious treasures (seven-year-old and eight-year-sold sons) and left their homeland of Surabaya, Indonesia for the United States.  Drs. Dan and Marina Sanusi, and their sons, eight-year-old Han (now known as David) and seven-year-old Tjioe (now know as August) left all that was familiar - flourishing medical practices, life-long friends, and generations and generations of family to begin a new life. They settled in Shreveport, Louisiana where they knew no one and spoke very little English.  (From here on, I'll refer to Han and Tjioe as David and August.  We'll call their parents Oma and Opa.)  

Fast forward about 4 decades......

This current journey to Indonesia actually began back in 2007.  In that year, Opa hatched a plan for a big family "reunion" (as he liked to call it) in Indonesia to happen following summer of 2008.  The purpose of the trip was for Opa and Oma, being in their mid-seventies, to visit Surabaya and their many loved ones one last time.  Tragically, the 2008 trip never happened due to a fall Opa experienced in March of that year.  He died, two weeks later, of a traumatic brain injury as a result of that fall.  It wasn't until last year that we and Oma were ready to again begin considering taking such a big trip.

So 10,186 miles, 12 time zones, and countless trips to the airport lavatory with toddler boy later.......we're here.