August, 2011 Archives

Worldwind

Comments Off on Worldwind
August 4th, 2011

A tale of two summers tells my story. Last summer I was kept closed up in hospitals, fighting for my very life, albeit with a smile on my face, (mostly). This summer, I decided it was best if I threw myself out into the world in a whirlwind. A worldwind is more apropos. Canada, North […]

A tale of two summers tells my story. Last summer I was kept closed up in hospitals, fighting for my very life, albeit with a smile on my face, (mostly). This summer, I decided it was best if I threw myself out into the world in a whirlwind. A worldwind is more apropos.

Canada, North Carolina, New York City and Los Angeles. Stops in the middle for Philly and D.C.? Sure, why not?

There’s a rational part of me that says I need to take things a little slower. “Wasn’t I just in the hospital as recently as June,” it asks, already knowing the answer.

“Yes,” I reply, “but that makes it even more imperative that I capture the fish … you know, carpe carp.”

“Ugh,” we both reply.

Honestly, I didn’t want another summer to race by while I sat on the sidelines. Sure, I could’ve taken things a bit slower and in truth, I did for most of June and will again now that August has entered the picture.

We travelled in different groups this past month, our family splitting up and reassembling. Ohio and Chicago also made appearances but not on my itinerary. Some people over the years have wondered why my family sometimes take different trips. We wonder why some people don’t take different trips.

Two of our traveling companions had never experienced the charge of New York. One’s a firefighter and Beatles fan, the other an actor and fashionista. What a perfect Mecca for both. Imagine! Another of our wayfarers had never been to California. We had no choice but to remedy that and since my brother and sister-in-law live there, our rent was insanely cheap.

This is a good place to insert something that’s been on my mind for over a year. Many, many folks contributed financial help to our family last summer when things were scary. Even though I probably don’t need to say this, I should let you know that all of our traveling has been done on the cheap like we’ve done since forever. We hunt for great airfare, find tremendous hotel deals, (or stay with family and friends), and avoid restaurants that don’t post their menus out front.

I share this because I don’t want anyone to think we’re squandering their resources. I’ve been told over and over again I shouldn’t feel sorry or guilty for this. I’m sorry; I feel guilty.

Enough about that. Some wonderful snippets pop up in my head as I scroll through the memories of last month. The greatest one happened on the subway in NYC. My Lady Macraes are very friendly, even with strangers. In supposedly one of the most unfriendly places in an allegedly unfriendly city, sitting across from me was each of my family members chatting with a random stranger. Taylor had engaged a woman from Greece in a discussion about her kids. Marci was talking to a woman from Brooklyn about the heat. Skye was talking to someone about fashion.

It was so fascinating to me, that I remarked to our buddy Jon that everyone in our family had made a friend. At that point, a random woman sitting next to us chimed in, “I noticed that. You know, my family is very sociable but I’m just not. They always meet people everywhere but I’m shy. I’m Denise, what’s your name?”

There must have been something in the air, humidity maybe. It broke down all of the cold, gruff New Yorker stereotypes and for a brief moment, until our next stop, we were all connected.

In California I played the good little transplant patient and stayed out of the sun for the most part. Oh sure, there were times when I slathered on spf 50 sunscreen and slipped into my big brother’s pool for a few minutes. But when the gang went out someplace sunny, I stayed behind. I saw four movies during my week there and didn’t feel like I missed a thing.

And that’s huge. In certain respects, I feel like I’m missing out on life. Not having a job and having to report to a doctor every few weeks leads me to feel like I’m out of step with the rest of society. Then my brain kicks in with the rationalizations telling me this allows me much more time with my daughters and wife. Valuable time spent with the women I love is incalculable. Then and there, the biggie of all justifications kicks in.

This is all happening for a reason.

Do I believe it? Sometimes, yes, I do.