Summer of '09

The order of my blogs now run helter-skelter as my mind moves from this and that. Summer is always an event for us now that we are empty nesters. Trips to see the kids or meet the kids or set the kids up in whatever place they have chosen for the summer always takes precedence over all that we do.

This summer has been so remarkably different that I would like to tell you three different stories about the past few weeks. There is so much that has filled our lives that to write here is to commit it to memory so that we can savor again and again the sweetness of our days.

Being the hopeless procrastinators that we are, our flight reservations were settled a mere three weeks before our first departure date. I am not sure how we manage this but over the past 10 years or so, we’ve scraped by, finding flights that suit us, more or less. Whoever the flight gods are, thank you! We had two flights originating from Delhi but departing on different days, a flight originating from the west coast of the United States and one from the east coast. All flights converged in New York City where we were to attend Daniel’s graduation at Columbia University and all flights headed to back Delhi. In truth, that route is not quite complete because one of those flights headed to New York once again via Istanbul and the other is heading to Los Angeles via Frankfurt! It is indeed a small world.

We spent a week in New York City. This “city that never sleeps” is, in my mind, everything that Delhi is not and I immersed myself completely in its rhythm. As a young woman, I spent seven years here and to this day I enjoy her skyscrapers and historic buildings, central park and her green respite, her crowds of tourists and natives alike, avant garde and street fashion, enticing shops, her unlimited variety of cuisine, and oh those delicious toasted bagels with schmear! Yes, my tastes and pleasures run shallow but my joy and contentment run deep!

We headed to Connecticut to visit family. Having lived out of the United States for 16 years, we have failed miserably in keeping contact with close family: we dare not call them close except that truly, they are close to our hearts. We have Daniel to thank for fostering the connection. He seems to have an innate inclination towards the warmth of family and has visited Connecticut on numerous occasions over his two years in Columbia.

They say that you can choose your friends and that it is unfortunate that you cannot choose your family. I humbly disagree. If I were given free rein to pick and choose the people that will make up my family, I would still choose the family that God has blessed me with. I kick myself for letting so many years go by without having basked in the love and caring that was that was so freely given to us now.

"Dad, when you saw mom, what did you think?" Nancy asked.

Nancy is of my generation (though admittedly a few years younger) and her Dad, Uncle Arthur is brother to David’s late father, Jerry. Our immediate family is small. Jerry had three children and Arthur two.

“She’s a doll!” was Uncle Arthur’s unhesitating reply.

And that is where it all begins. There could be, in my eyes, no truer love and devotion than Uncle Arthur’s to Auntie Anne and Auntie Anne to Uncle Arthur. Perhaps the years have shaped them, honed them in to two halves of one, each separate yet truly a wonderful whole! I could not ask for a kinder and gentler father-in-law standing in stead of father Jerry who I never had the good fortune to meet. There could not be a more embracing Auntie Anne who has made me feel more of a Nishball than I ever did. I hope that my children embrace them as grandparents as Uncle Arthur and Auntie Anne have a bottomless well of love and affection for them.

It is easy to love Nancy and Judy who may be the wackiest aunts my kids could hope for. Quick with the repartee, teasing smiles escaping their lips, Nancy and Judy were pure fun. Scott and Judy opened their home to us, kitchen, laundry room, garage, and all. More than a few times I wished that we lived around the corner, that we could do Trader Joe’s at a moment’s notice, enjoy the concerts at the green whenever we pleased, and enjoy this treasure of a family.

We visited with friends in Virginia. We drove to Washington DC, made a leisurely trip on Skyline Drive, visited Annapolis and had our crab cakes. Daniel and I explored DC while David and Rachel worked at the conference.

On our way back to Connecticut we visited with family in New Jersey. Another taste of home cooking and familial togetherness greeted us, making me feel the remoteness of Delhi even more. It is funny, I realize now. As children and young adults, we are impatient to grow up and test our wings, to discover the world and create our own universe. Yet as time weaves its tapestry in our lives, our heart’s desire evolves into the simplest of joys: hearth and home, family and love. There is nothing more complete.