Socializing in SoCal with Fam!

 

It's a common truism throughout the world, and for us too - Covid and its life altering fallout  contributed heavily to us not being in a position to visit with family in Southern California (SoCal) for over three years.  Ironically, it is our nomadic lifestyle that allowed us to make the course corrections and remedy that situation... visiting our west coast grandkids and cousins.  Barbara Bush once said, “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, a parent.”   As we journey through the "third quarter" of life - we have come to appreciate that perspective more and more.  

We got to visit Santa Monica Pier with Phyl's cousins so that we could complete a multi-year milestone of traveling Route 66 from Chi-town to SoCal.  We also got to build Legos projects with our West Coast grandkids in the conference room of our hotel (never too old to Lego!). We had so much fun and laughter in the process -  and it's ALL about making new memories.

On one of the evenings while staying with our cousins, Jer had the opportunity to grill his almost-famous Cuban Mojo Chicken Wings... it had been a year since he'd grilled up these marinated morsels... mainly because in the past, he'd made them in large batches for family and friends, conversing and imbibing libations while turning the wings until they gain a dark brown hue. It was a joy to recreate that scene, although on a much smaller scale this time. Goes to show, that even as digital nomads, we still long to rekindle some of our cherished traditions.

Recently, we watched a documentary about the making of both the play and movie, "Fiddler On The Roof." It was insightful how the original writers and actors identified that the central theme of the production was the influence of tradition in society... often good, sometimes not so good... but always a key ingredient in the fabric of keeping family and friends connected.  As Tevye once said,  "Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as... as... as a fiddler on the roof!" We couldn't agree more.

These events gave us pause to re-commit ourselves to be even more deliberately mindful of how fast life goes by. We're loving our on-going adventure and we can both see that a part of that adventure involves spending time with those we care about whenever possible. Our favorite activity with both friends and family we've connected with across the country has been indulging in spirited conversations and laughter - we are blessed!

PS: While the attached pics may not resonate that much to you personally, please metaphorically speaking, feel free to insert your own - and if you don't have any recent pics... this might be an opportunity to consider making the time to gather and celebrate your traditions so that you can enjoy the new memories!