A friend of ours gave Sarah the best dish towel ever. It reads, “Life is Short… take the trip, buy the shoes, eat the cake, sleep with the Guitar Player.” Sound advice.
It’s advice we took recently for a family event that could have simply just passed us by. I have two younger sisters, and the middle sibling — Cecilia — just celebrated her 60th birthday. The easy thing to do would have been a phone call, card and gift. But 60 is a big milestone, worthy of a real celebration. So Sarah and I flew up, and my youngest sister Carol flew down to South Carolina. Our chief co-conspirator was Cecilia’s wife, Sue, who arranged on-site details in Spartanburg and got the birthday girl where she needed to be. Sue, it should be known, can really keep a secret.
The surprise on Cecilia’s face when she walked into the restaurant and saw us sitting there was real. Her joy at having her family there for her special birthday was beautiful and contagious, and set the stage for the entire wonderful weekend. Sarah is no stranger to the birthday surprise — she did the same for one of my birthdays by having my two sisters show up and surprise me in Gatlinburg a few years back, and assembled a surprise gathering of good friends here in the Keys for my 60th.
The birthday weekend with my sisters inspired this column. Special events and wonderful people hopefully populate certain corners of all our lives. The everyday, however, can often eclipse and get in the way of the truly special things, and it’s so easy to let these special things slip away.
It may not be family in everyone’s lives — it can be really good friends, an old college roommate, or shared events with someone you met on a trip or at an event. While it’s easier to keep up with distant friends and family members these days through social media and modern tech, nothing compares to spending time actually (not virtually) together, in the same space.
Back in the summer of 2020, when the world was slowly emerging from the total lockdown of the COVID pandemic, Sarah and I took a trip to a mountain cabin in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Two other couples joined us — Dusty and Linda (who used to own a music store I worked at in Marathon back in the 1980s), and Regina and Matamba (I worked with Regina at a summer camp back in 1980). We had an absolute blast in the mountains, enjoying the natural wonders around us as well as the good company we were keeping. While we still stay in touch through social media, nothing compares to the experience of sharing good times in the same space.
In my song, “Captain of His Own Destiny,” I paraphrase a bit of old wisdom in this line: “Seek no more your journey’s end, the destination won’t matter as much as the journey, my friend.” While we all get focused on a goal, destination or end result, the steps and stops we take on our journeys are just as important. And when the destination is reached or the goal is accomplished, the journey to get there is just as significant. Stop and smell the roses. Take the trip. Eat the cake.
And by all means, sleep with the guitar player.
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While this isn’t the big official thank you (look for that soon in these pages), the recent Presents In Paradise season was our biggest ever. Hundreds of local families — 720 children total — were the beneficiaries of your generous donations and the efforts of the Presents In Paradise board of directors and volunteers. It was a 28% increase over last year, and the elves are currently resting after the busy season. Look for some announcements about some cool new things happening with Presents in the upcoming year, and thanks to everyone for your support!
