Vacation Reflections

Last night we flew back to Charlotte on a late flight from San Francisco.  The words of the woman behind me have haunted me since our return.  I think there is a valuable message in what she was sharing.

We were delayed in take-off and I was annoyed by her voice, the woman had one of those tonal qualities that rise over all others and are hard to ignore.  It was so intrusive that I couldn’t concentrate on my book.  Then the content of what she was saying started to sink in and my annoyance vanished.  She and her husband were celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary with a cruise in the Caribbean and had missed their earlier flight so had been “patched through” via Charlotte, due to arrive in Miami sometime after midnight.  She talked a bit about having rarely taken trips together during their marriage and how she had so looked forward to this vacation, how excited she was to see another part of the world.

As we were readying for takeoff, the flight attendant asked for the woman’s cane and put it in our overhead compartment.  As we taxied to the runway, I couldn’t ignore the conversation as she shared that she was on dialysis and not only had the cane, but a checked wheel chair and a portable dialysis machine that she needed to use several times a week.  When I got up to stretch I could see that she looked very ill. 

My thoughts for the past 24 hours have vacillated between two points.  One is how fortunate that she is able to do this trip, that in spite of a wheelchair and the need for dialysis, she can fly across the country, get on a cruise ship and have a vacation to remember.  Second was sadness that she couldn’t have experienced the joy of travel while she was healthy and able to climb the hills and see those areas that are not accessible by wheelchair.  I felt sadness for them, for all they have missed.

This is in contrast to a wonderful week of family times and the fun of exploring the coast of California from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  We were tourists through and through.  We stayed on the Queen Mary, docked in Long Beach and used as a hotel, an elegant reminder of the days when Clark Gable and Winston Churchill crossed the Atlantic in luxury.  We drove up the coast and stopped to see the seals sunning, we walked beaches, had lunch in Malibu, walked the hills of San Francisco and ate seafood fresh off the boats at Fisherman’s Wharf.  It was glorious.

On the Beach At Malibu with Caleb

We also had several days with family.  A sit down Thanksgiving dinner for over twenty family and friends in Ventura was the highlight.  This is mostly my brother-in-law’s family, but they welcomed us a part of the Sullivan clan.  Then there was the fun of watching my grand-nephew play in the hotel pool, sharing lunch with my sister and her husband in Sausalito as we looked out at Alcatraz and sailboats gliding by.  We had dinner in Manhattan Beach with my nephews and their families.  It was a time to be grateful for family and for the opportunity to enjoy every moment.

The lesson is once again, don’t wait.  Explore your passions and take advantage of any opportunities to do what you love with those you enjoy.  For me it is travel, for others it may be theatre or the opera or spending time in the woods.  Whatever it is, don’t wait for retirement, for the kids to grow up, for the 50^th wedding anniversary or the perfect time.  Do it now because you never know when your world may change.