As I was leaving Rochester, it was the first time I knew that I was leaving home. I said good-bye to my mom and gave her a kiss and I was on my way. Benjamin, a former German, VW intern who lived with us two years ago was visiting us this past week. He drove me to the Airport. When I was in the car with him I found my self-pointing out all the places that I would miss about Rochester. Even though all this was happening it still hadn’t hit me that I was really leaving. It wasn’t until I got to the airport and Ben walked me to the desk and he told me that he hopes that I find my self and what I am looking for. Then we man-hugged and he gave me some money, smiled, and left. Ben is my first contact that I have made so far on my journey. I now know that I will always have a place to stay when I go to Germany. After he left I got in line to check my bags on the plain. While I was standing in line, I read a sign that had the baggage policy on it. The sign declared that for the first bag was $15, but if it was over 50LB then it was $100! But if you had 2 bags the charge was $40 and they had to weigh less than 50LB each. I knew my bag weighed 105LB. Thankfully, I had a extra duffle bag with me, so I jumped out of line and as fast as I could, I filled the duffle bag and re-stuffed my back packs. I did this with lightening fast speed. Lesson: When traveling it’s better to have 2 light bags and 1 heavy one. After that I had to run through security and as all ways they stopped my big cameo back pack and they looked through it 2 more times. Of course, they didn’t find any thing and I grabbed my stuff and ran to the plane. I had 10 min to spare, but, I was the last one on the plane. After we had been in the air for a while I couldn’t comprehend why I didn’t have a return ticket home. Then it hit me, this is not just a short trip. This is my life for the next year not just a short term trip. It was the first step to my life long journey. There is no return flight.
Donations toward my expenses can be made four ways:
1.
Wes Tatum
c/o Ivanwald
2224 24th Street North
Arlington, VA 22207
The check can be made out directly to The International Foundation for a tax deduction. Be sure to add a note saying it is for Weston Tatum.
2.
Or if you want to send me money directly, you can make the check out to Weston Tatum and send it to:
Wes Tatum
c/o Ivanwald
2224 24th Street North
Arlington, VA 22207
These donations are NOT tax deductible but it will give me some flexibility.
3.
or you can send a check directly to my account via my parents at:
Wes Tatum
4103 Oak Tree Circle
Rochester, MI 48306
The check can be made out to Wes Tatum or Cash for Wes Tatum
These checks are NOT tax deductible but will go directly to my expenses or personal finances.
4.
You can send donations via PayPal by using your PayPal account, or charge card by clicking on the link below and send the amount you want. In the message section make sure to add it is a donation for Wes Tatum:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=tatumstudios%40yahoo%2ecom&item_name=Support%20Wes%20Tatum&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8
Thanks so much for your careful and heartfelt consideration in this life changing situation.
Remember the truth and forget the lies…
Wes
