Once in a Lifetime

By Sherry Moss Walraven

A group of nieces decided to take their Aunt Hazel on her vacation to Ireland. Aunt Hazel's two daughters went along to be with their mom and several of their cousins also went. They quickly heard of legends from long ago, but this happy group didn't let things such as Long-ago legends bother them. After all, it is in the past, right? They all heard the fun stories of Leprechauns, Fairies, Witches, and Pots of Gold at the end of a rainbow. Aunt Hazel decided to take a short walk but became somewhat nervous when a small man dressed in green began talking to her, and now she was really concerned and didn't know what to think about this whole disaster. When she had started taking her walk down a beautiful trail with many pretty flowers, her problem now was that she was lost and didn't know how to return to the castle where they were staying. She knew the girls would be searching for her, and she prayed they wouldn't get lost like she did. Would the girls really be able to find their sweet aunt, or would Aunt Hazel wander around the countryside? She was in a far-away country that she didn't know much about.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Proisle Publishing Services
• Release date: Feb 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9781963735062

Sherry Moss Walraven

Sherry Moss Walraven is a lifelong resident of Calhoun, Georgia. She taught literature to middle school students. She loves to read and will read all kinds of stories. She honed her storytelling on her two sons and later her four grandchildren. She made up stories on the spur of the moment. Now, retired, she still has many memories of her time with the students and their reactions to the stories. Sherry is the author of several books.

Book preview

Chapter One

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fter Sunday morning service at the country Baptist Church in a small town in Georgia on a bright spring day in May, the Moss family met at the home of the grandparents, which they did every great Sunday the good Lord made, for a meal, fellowship, and fun. Many memories were made that would not be forgotten at the house of their grandparents.

This is a large family where the grandparents raised seven children, which consisted of five boys and two girls. They all have raised children of their own and now those children have children. The grandparents’ faces would be full of bright smiles every time the grandchildren came to visit. They sure did love those Sunday afternoon visits when all the family gathered together.

One of these afternoons after the meal, everyone found somewhere to sit on the long front porch. Most of the grandchildren were outside playing basketball or some other fun game. Aunt Hazel noticed her daughters sitting in the old swing, which had seen better days. Some of the other cousins were sitting in that same swing, so she decided to move her chair so she could talk to them. All the grandchildren loved to sit in the swing that often fell on one side when too many kids would be in it. No one ever got hurt, and they thought it was extremely funny. The smiling adults would go over and put the chain back up to fix the swing. It happened quite often, but the kids in the swing thought it was fun for one side of it to be on the floor.

Aunt Hazel had been doing some serious thinking about where she wanted to go this summer on vacation. She had an idea and would like some of the cousins to think about it, and how many of them would like to accompany her on this trip. There is safety in numbers, so she didn’t care how many of them went. Aunt Hazel knew many of them worked, so it may be they couldn’t go, but whoever wanted to go, were welcomed to go to Ireland with them.

When she brought up the topic of vacations, it seemed everyone had their own ideas of where they wanted to travel to, until Aunt Hazel came up with an idea that stunned some of the others when she made her suggestion.

Aunt Hazel was eager to find out what the girls thought about her idea. Who would like to go with me to Ireland? She was shooting out an abundance of enthusiasm at what she thought was a fantastic idea. They had ancestors who came from there. Someone told Hazel that some of them lived around Dublin.

Aunt Hazel was a sweet, attractive lady who had never been out of the country before, but she thought she was ready for the adventure. She had an abundance of love to give to her grandkids, and now her great grandchildren. Her nieces were beginning to come around to her way of thinking. There was much chatter as several of the girls began looking at the others with giggles and grins that covered their whole face. They were all adults now with their own grandkids, so it shouldn’t be much of a problem for them to travel. Aunt Hazel was becoming excited just thinking she may get to go on such a trip. She sat eagerly waiting for someone to take her up on her offer of going with her to Ireland.

I want to go. I have always wanted to go, Carbo smiled at thoughts of seeing Ireland. Carbo looked at Aunt Hazel and smiled. "I can’t wait to get this show on the road.

When are we leaving? Lila asked with enthusiasm. Her sister, Freya, was shaking her head making it known she would go, also. Aunt Hazel smiled with unshed tears in her eyes. She knew she was blessed with family. She was having trouble thinking this was really going to happen. Their aunt couldn’t believe her good luck. Girls, you are all so sweet to go with me. There is no way I would go by myself.

Tam and I will go, Gin said with certainty. It was almost a given that Gin and Tam would go since Aunt Hazel was their mom. That made Aunt Hazel even more excited to have her daughters share this experience with her. She wanted as many of the nieces to go that could or wanted to go. The more the merrier they always say, but no one has ever said who ‘they’ are, but it didn’t matter. She was just happy to have some to want to go with her. She knew they would have much fun.

Angel looked at the others and said, I want to go. I have always wanted to drive on the other side of the road. The others got a chuckle out of Angel wanted to drive in a foreign country. In their minds, they didn’t want to drive in a foreign country at all. Perhaps, they could take a Taxi some of the times.

Kat and Kim hollered, We will go, but we do not want to drive on the other side of the road. They volunteered Angel to do the driving. Angel was okay with that.

What’s going on, ladies? You all look overjoyed over something, said Cherry Lynn who just got to the grandparents’ house and didn’t know they were planning a trip.

Okay, count me in. Where are we going? Cherry Lynn asked. She didn’t always need to know where they were going. She just loved to travel. Her dad always called her Cherry-go-Moss because she loved going places she had never been to before.

Aunt Hazel smiled and told Cherry Lynn they were going to Ireland. Cherry Lynn said ‘yes’ in a hurry. She had never been and have always wanted to go there. She would go along with the rest of the group.

How about we sleep in a castle while we are there. That would be so cool, Carbo said she had always wanted to sleep in a castle, so she could feel like a princess. The girls told Princess Carbo that sounded good to them. They thought it would be good to see several castles while they were there.

The ones, who were traveling to Ireland, could hardly contain their eagerness. They would be on pins and needles just waiting for the big day to begin. Several people on the long front porch looked to where the laughing ladies were sitting. They didn’t think anything about all the laughing because whole family liked to laugh and have fun.

Why are all the smiles on you ladies so big? Their youngest uncle asked. He was becoming curious.

All the smiling ladies said at the same time, We are going to Ireland.

The Ireland ladies were giggling and couldn’t seem to stop because of all the fun they knew they would have with all of them together in a land far, far away. All the cousins, along with Aunt Hazel, loved to laugh and have fun.

The ones going to Ireland sat beside each other to make plans for their trip. Most of the ladies were looking at their calendars on their phones to coordinate when would be the best time to make this trip happen. They talked it over and said they didn’t anticipate they would have any trouble because there was safety in numbers, and there would be ten females in the group.

Aunt Hazel went to bed that night and thanked the good Lord. She knew she had been blessed beyond measure, and that’s when she fell asleep with a smile on her sweet face. It was a vacation she could only dream about, but now it was going to become a reality.

Chapter Two

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unt Hazel smiles at all she meets, and everyone loves her and her sweet disposition. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body and would help anyone who needed help. She began thinking about her trip to Ireland. She decided she needed to go shopping. She researched what the weather would be like in Ireland. She knew, for sure, comfortable shoes were needed for all the walking they would surely do while site seeing. She couldn’t wait until that special day when they left for another country.

Aunt Hazel couldn’t believe that many of her nieces wanted to go with her to Ireland. She sure didn’t want to go by herself and was happy her two daughters wanted to go. She knew they would all have a good time. Aunt Hazel prayed every night for a safe trip. She never would forgive herself if something bad happened to one of the nieces.

The happy traveler was sitting on ready. All she had to do was pack and wait patiently for the grand day of their exciting trip. Their aunt had one little concern about the trip. She had much rather go on their little vacation in a car, but she would give the airplane a try this time. She wanted to see everything from the castles to the beautiful green grass in the fields. She was told that in the countryside she would see old farmhouses that were still in the business of holding a large family. They were all unique in their own special way.

Carbo wasn’t going to let the others talk her out of staying in a castle, at least, for one night, so she made a reservation to stay in a castle in the country. That excited everyone. They started talking all at once about how exciting this trip was going to be. They laughed and laughed having a good time just thinking about all they would see in this lovely country.

Aunt Hazel smiled every day for what she was going to do with her amiable nieces. She couldn’t really believe she was getting to go to a country so far away from home. She had never been that far away from home before, but she knew she would be in good company. They would take care of each other.

Chapter Three

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he exuberant day finally arrived when Aunt Hazel, her two daughters, and seven of her nieces would be flying to the country of Ireland. There was much laughter being heard from all the girls, who were traveling to Ireland with their Aunt Hazel. They would barely sit still thinking about the new adventure they were about to embark on. They made it to the airport in Atlanta with no problems. Aunt Hazel was still a little nervous about flying on such a big aircraft, but the others hugged her and said they would be right beside her and would help her to get over fear of flying.

When they called their group to board, they walked slowly down the ramp to board the plane. After finding their seats, they patiently waited until all the passengers were on the plane. The pilot came on the speaker saying they were ready for take-off in ten minutes. The girls glanced at their aunt to see if she was okay. She was fine except for the unusual expression on her confused face.

Lila and Freya were sitting