Hello from Massachusetts! Thanks to all my helpers who forward interesting Flagship news.
Hats off to Jeff Parrott, who scored a hole in one on #3 on April 16. Congratulations!
A very special congratulations to Maria Howsmon who turned 105 on April 1. What an accomplishment, Maria. Wishing you more years of good health and happiness.
Certain markers of time reinforce its passage with some indelible memories. Three folks from Flagship will never forget their travel earlier this year.
When returning from a gorgeous vacation in Bali, Lanna Christensengot her return trip extended by having to go around the world to make it back to the U.S. She got to see Mount Fuji from the air, then Korea and over the North Pole. Her return trip via Dulles Airport was a no go due to the disruption of the Iranian crisis.
A Middle Eastern cruise spent admiring the architecture and learning about local cultures extended into a beautiful but tremulous week for Alex Irigoyen and Magda Sotiriadis. As they prepared to board their flight home via Madrid, the war in Iran led to the closure of airspace and the indefinite cancellation of all flights. The airport terminal they had been in was hit by a missile just a few hours later.
They were stranded in Dubai, staying in an incredible, luxury hotel as guests of the United Arab Emirates while they tried to figure out how to leave. Alex recalls, “The threat level was being raised all the time, and alarm messages were sent to our phones, urging us to seek shelter in the middle of the night.” Missiles flew overhead as the situation became increasingly tense and dangerous. One missile they witnessed landed and exploded three miles away, near the U.S. Consulate.
Communications were down. Airports were closed, and airlines had cancelled all flights in and out of the region. With airspace shut down, they even considered leaving by ground – driving west across the desert, a long and risky journey that would have taken hours.
The situation might have lasted much longer if, after exhausting all other options, Alex hadn’t had the idea to contact Fort Myers’ WINK News. Zoom was still working, and thanks to WINK’s interview, a plan began to take shape. They were eventually able to fly out of Dubai, escorted by military jets. To avoid the most dangerous areas of the conflict zone, the plane first flew southeast, looping around Dubai, then headed northwest through Saudi Arabia before finally landing in Madrid eight hours later.
Alex says that once the situation returns to normal, they would like to revisit Dubai and neighboring countries. They are fascinated by the “state-of-the-art architecture, the overwhelming urban development, and the advanced infrastructure of countries ruled by absolute monarchies and financed by the oil and gas industry.”
When asked what they learned from the experience, Alex explains, “It is a learning experience that makes you appreciate even more the American lifestyle and culture, where democracy prevails instead of a royal family, and where women are equal to men. We enjoy the freedom of equal opportunity to grow as individuals, to create businesses, and to live freely. These are the reasons that led us to immigrate to the United States 34 years ago.”
These intrepid adventurers both grew up in Argentina. In 1992, they moved to Michigan, where they lived happily and successfully for 17 years. Alex is an architect, and Magda is a CPA. Now these semi-retired, international consultants are able to spend much of the year exploring the world.
Fortunately for us, their favorite place is Flagship Village, where the days are warmer and the sunlight lasts longer than Michigan. The moment they drove into The Landings, they knew they had found their new home. To them, The Landings has “an aura” that cannot be matched.
This was not the first time they had been stranded abroad. On September 11, 2001, they were stranded in Vienna, Austria. Then, in 2020 (Covid), they caught one of the last flights to the U.S. from Argentina. Let us hope they won’t add to their growing list of close encounters with another disaster.
