A Family Affair

Jan 14...  Congress, AZ
I’ve had a little trouble getting back in the swing of posting to this journal after our nearly week long family festival down at Casa de Cher in Sun City West. It does seem writing is a habit as much as an exercise in creativity, at least for me. I also believe it’s important to take a break once in a while, to “give it a breather”, lest one slips into repetition, minutia, and boredom. Anything one does day after day, every day, can become predictable, dull, and tedious. For example, even travel, the raison d’etre of our life right now, if done day after day, every day, causes the most hardened nomad to yearn for a rest, a break, a time to change things up, relax, and gain some new perspective.

OK, enough of that.

Our family affair turned out to be a memorable and enjoyable time. Thanks mostly to the planning and organizing talents of Dar and her sister Cher, the 9 attendees, 6 of whom traveled by air to get here, had a good time. No brawls, fist fights, or unnecessary roughness at all. In fact, there were acts of kindness, expressions of love and heavy-liking, and even a few moist eyes… which could have originated with deep emotions… or could’ve been from desert air dryness.

The motivation for this get together was a 90th birthday party for the patriarch of the family. Dozens of family members and friends were furtively asked to write about “remember when…” moments that involved the guest of honor… which were even better when they were embarrassing or humorous. And most of them were both embarrassing and humorous. These were included in the many birthday cards and letters he received. We think some, perhaps most, of the stories were actually true. During the course of his big day, these were read aloud for the benefit of the entire group. It appears he enjoyed the attention and thoughts, but claimed many of the originators had faulty memories. The collected works will be assembled in a scrapbook that the honoree can use for his leisurely enjoyment… and to retaliate in due time if he chooses. It was an enjoyable few days.

A rumination about the day: a person doesn’t realize how many people you touch during the course of your life. For most of us, it’s really quite remarkable.

Now that the guests are all gone, Casa de Cher is cleaned up, furniture back to it’s normal position, and the neighbors are able to sleep normally again, Dar and I are itching to go exploring.

And that will happen very soon. Stay tuned.