Written by: Megan and Glenn Solomon, Honeymoon Israel Atlanta, March 2022
We first met 14 years ago as freshmen in college at the University at Albany in New York. The lead up to our love story wasn’t as quick as Glenn hoped, but I (Megan) eventually came around, and our budding romance took off 2 years later – and the rest is history.
Fast forward to 2022 with travel reopening and being accepted into the HMI program, we were ecstatic for our first trip abroad in far too long. While feeling under the weather between Christmas and New Year’s, unsure if it was from overindulging in sweets and treats or a much anticipated pregnancy – we found out that it was the latter and were overjoyed!
We opted to do genetic testing to find out the gender as early as possible. With our HMI trip coming up in March, we decided it would be a fun addition to find out while traveling and certainly a unique experience for everyone who was interested in participating. The results were sealed in an envelope, and we carried them around for nearly a week. Friends and family back in NY couldn’t fathom that we were carrying around this secret and not ripping it open in anticipation.
After a suggestion from a fellow traveler, we decided to open the envelope alongside the tour group at the Western Wall – an already incredibly moving and spiritual place. We were met with great surprise as the tour group huddled around us and were very supportive and excited to join in finding out the big news. It’s a boy! The support from brand new friends, who we had only known for a few days, was beyond touching. Their cheers and celebration were a true highlight.
The support from our HMI community in Israel and now back in Atlanta has been so special. With the majority of our family located in NY, a primary goal of HMI was to make lifelong friends and community to celebrate and honor all of life’s ups and downs. In such a short time, we’ve already experienced that tenfold. A special moment in Israel was when two fellow HMI Atlanta travelers gifted us a baby rattle from Yad LaKashish – an organization and gift shop that sells goods handcrafted by many of Jerusalem’s elderly residents who need additional assistance, many of whom are immigrants and Holocaust survivors. That is a truly special item that we can’t wait to display in the nursery.
Bringing a baby into this world will certainly be our greatest adventure yet, we are anticipating his arrival in late August. No name has been selected yet but the HMI group has affectionally nicknamed him Baby Wes (as in Western Wall). We’re so thankful that our HMI community shared in our excitement for this big life moment.
Watch the big reveal below!
