We returned yesterday from a weeklong journey that took us to D.C. for a night, our former stomping grounds in suburban Philadelphia for an afternoon, and central New Jersey, where we attended a joyous wedding on Sunday morning, for a long weekend. It was a whirlwind of memories and emotions, of reuniting with important people in our lives.
Along the way, I couldn’t help but think of the many trips my family took when I was young. Some were relatively short—to Gettysburg and D.C., where history was at the forefront of the agenda. Others were weeks-long vacations to such esoteric places as Asmara, Beirut, and the pre-Space Mountain Disney World, where my parents bought me a Daniel Boone-branded coonskin hat that I wore pretty much everywhere for the next few months.
The only thing I brought back with me on this trip, however, is a sore shoulder—driving for hours on end takes a toll!
As it happens, 12 years ago this week, I answered today’s Daily Prompt question:
Anyone of a certain age remembers the time when instant communication didn’t exist. There were no cell phones, Internet, e-mail, FaceTime or Skype; and, unless you were rich or wished to take out a second mortgage, long-distance and overseas calls were few and far between – the per-minute charges were prohibitively expensive. What’s now affectionately known as “snail mail” was pretty much it for long-distance communication. Moving across the country or around the world meant cutting yourself off from family and friends, save for letters.
It was in just such a time that my family embarked on a great adventure shared by some, but not many, hearty souls: we relocated from the U.S. to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In today’s world, of course, Saudi is a known entity. But in August 1970? Think Lawrence of Arabia. It was little more than a destination on the map.
To read the post in full, click here.
The Old Grey Cat 
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