Y-Back Wednesday: Jimmy Johns Brings Back Memories

My daughter and I were headed over to get our sandwiches for a buck when I started to remember something important.

The line moved pretty smoothly at the 41st Street Jimmy Johns. There was a crowd, but as always, they were Freaky Fast.

My boys and Cathy were doin' stuff, so it was just me 'n' Bella goin' for a sandwich. Father-daughter time. It reminded me of just a few short years ago.

Just a few short years ago, Bella and I were in Kiev, waiting for her Social Security number and passport so we could come home. It was right after all the protesting, so we couldn't spend a whole lot of time outside of the apartment. There was still a whole Occupy movement going on from the previous Fall. Independence Square was full of tents and makeshift shelters. One of the street lamps had been tapped into for electricity to power a ten inch black and white television in the Command Center, in the middle of the square. Outside, was a wood splitter for fire wood. I thought about taking pictures or rolling video, but the dirty, serious faces told me to keep moving.

May 1st and 2nd were Labor Day holidays. May 8th is Memorial Day. May 9th is Victory Day. Each holiday, there were parades and celebrations. We were advised in an e-mail from the embassy to avoid crowds. In the apartment, Bella would watch YouTube videos, I'd watch shows on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. With captioning. I'd brought movies, along with books and comics to read, too.

We'd walk down the hill from the apartment into the square. There was a corner entrance into the subway below. Maidan Station is THE busiest subway terminal in the city. The escalator from down to the train platform takes two minutes.

Under the Occupy crowd there was a shopping mall, above the subway. It was the difference between night and day. The stores were open and busy. We made our way through the mall crowd, through the train crowd to the Billa grocery store. It was like any grocery here at home, except for the language barrier. She and I would stock up on lunch and dinner, a couple of sandwiches apiece, like Jimmy Johns, with a couple of sodas and chips. Maybe a Roshen's chocolate bar to split. Bella would grab a drumstick cone.

We did this for a few weeks in May until we got her social security number, passport and visa to come home. Bella came home for good May 30th.

Funny how the simplest things, like grabbing a sandwich, brings back amazing memories.