Last weekend, my family traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to visit our cousins from my mom’s side of the family. This was a very special trip for a lot of reasons.

This was my dad’s first trip in many years. My mom, who recently passed away, was unable to travel; and my dad wouldn’t go anywhere without her. It was a very emotional trip for my dad, but being with some family we hadn’t seen in a long time, and meeting some new members of their family, really was great for all of us, especially my dad. We stayed at the new SpringHill Suites OSU. It featured a spacious and comfortable room, a good workout facility, an outdoor fire pit and a cool lobby bar. The bar area was lively yet allowed for individual groups to have conversations. We spent Saturday evening reminiscing and catching up.

Sunday morning we went to the Greater Columbus Convention Center, which my cousin Lori accurately described as not aesthetically pleasing (I am being kind in my interpretation). I caught up with my artist friend Sara Richard, as well as talking to Mark Metcalf (the Maestro from television’s Seinfeld) and long-time cartoonist Tom Batiuk.

We dined at Bravo! I had a delicious chicken and spinach flatbread. Others ordered the Margherita pizza, a big salad or the wedding soup. Everything was great. The staff was friendly, and the atmosphere was elegant and relaxed.

We finished the day at Lori’s parents’ house, where we were joined by more of the family. We watched a little football as we laughed and cried about the old times and made some plans for future good times.

Columbus is a beautiful city, and I hope to see more of it in the future. More importantly, I hope to spend more time with the Yacobozzi family in Columbus, Chicago or somewhere in between.

— John Wroblewski, distribution specialist