ROUNDING THE COUNTRY ON BIRTHDAYS

In a whole new way, now in our seventies, birthdays have become the focal point of our lives. For our children, they used to entail a favorite meal and the cost of a homemade cake when we celebrated with parents, siblings, grandparents, and local aunts and uncles on the actual anniversary of the birth day. We showed up on the birthdays of our near and dear, too.

For the larger crowds with schoolmates of our children, family friends, and relatives we had huge spreads with store-bought themed cakes. Yes, always two parties per child.

Now, aside from a party with friends, having families celebrating birthdays together entails the choice of long car rides or the cost of airfares, and sometimes hotel stays to boot. Throw in a Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Passover, and don’t forget weddings and other lifecycle events, and we fill the year with no time to just relax and be with our family, instead, we’re focused on special happenings. While it’s nice to have such festivities to enjoy, something is missing from the day-to-day of spending time with loved ones.

Growing up with family meant the world to us and we tried our best to duplicate the feeling for our three children, especially making sure they regularly spent time with their grandparents for there’s no getting them back, and they are the all-important family history.

Never having known my grandparents was a terrible loss for me. Now, we have to be happy with Zoom, Facetime, or other technological advances that we waited for longingly, since seeing the caller on the phone at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair exhibit. Ah, a glimpse of our loved ones' lives, through the airwaves, sans the touching, feeling, and delightful surprises with each regular visit.

It’s either, “on the road again,” or “up, up and away” these days. Well, I’m off…time to make plans for the next trip. We have to make ourselves feel better and be happy it’s for a good occasion. First, we need to decide whether to fly or drive this time.