Category Archives: Friends / Family

At this time every year I start getting excited about the day after Thanksgiving;  and not because of the Black Friday sales, but because the Christmas Season officially begins and I can finally start annoying everyone with my Christmas favorites.

Although I am normally excited at the end of November, this year coming home for Christmas is just about all I think of. It clouds my judgment. So forget about my criticizing U.S. foreign policy or getting on Obama’s case for being such a wimp on every single issue on his plate. I haven’t been home to Washington, DC in over a year and half, and in my mind I am already over the river and through the woods.

I often look at people of all ages and think about who they’ll become or who they were at previous times in their lives. And I think about the different stages and manifestations of beauty throughout the course of their lives. I wonder whether little kids will maintain, grow into or lose their beauty, and whether old age will reveal the beauty in their youth and vice versa. I wonder whether there is an eternal quality to beauty that continues to make us recognizable even when our earliest and most recent portraits bear almost no resemblance to each other.

Last night my wife (I am legally married, but that’s another story) showed me photos that I had never seen before of her as a child. I was left speechless. Of course, I see traces of her present posture, gestures, and features. But most of all, when I look at that little girl in the photographs, I can see clearly everything that is beautiful about the woman that is today my wife.

I only ever really feel homesick at the change of each season. And now that summer is very much upon us, especially in Madrid where it has been consistently over 90F (32C) for the second straight week, I very much miss home. I miss my brother’s rooftop in Brooklyn (though I have only been up there twice). I miss the drive from Washington to the Bronx through New Jersey. I miss the C&O Canal. I miss Georgetown. I miss the Washington humidity. I miss cooking out. I miss my mother’s garden. I miss the Bay Bridge. I miss the fruits and vegetables on the way to the Eastern Shore. I miss opening the window and being on the beach in Bethany. And I miss my family.

I suppose I am lucky living in Europe. I am in wonderful Madrid and spend at least a little time each month in Paris, probably the most beautiful city in the world. Nevertheless, whenever the seasons change — from hot to cold, cold to hot or in between — I always miss home.

My college roommate, Dave, and I used to get the biggest laugh out of this anti-drug commercial from the early 90s. And we weren’t even high.

After first being tagged by William (requesting only seven things) and subsequently by Sanjeev, Sorin, and Paul through Facebook, I have finally gotten round to compiling my own self-absorbed list. Here is the list that I published on Facebook: Continue reading →