My parents raised me knowing the importance of family, they believed that to be a fundamental building block to our character. Family come first. Friends come and go but your family comes forever. If you donate to charities - first makes sure your family is ok - then you share with others (that is if you have a cousin who is homeless you find ways to help that cousin first before you donate to a charity). Those and many other ways of thinking, are now just second nature to me. I didn't realize until later in life that other family's don't operate how our family operates. When our elderly is sick or in need - we hire in home nurses and have family move in or move them in with family. We don't farm out the old to nursing homes. Its just not done. There is a deep respect for the history and life that was lived.
I had dinner with my aunt my last weekend in Poughkeepsie, and she told me wonderful stories about my dad as a kid, and how she had watched all of us grow up - and how she grew up. Before dinner was over she made me promise that I would be back for holidays, and to keep everyone updated. She also gave me a piece of my grandmothers jewelry to remind me that family is always close by and that there will always be someone watching over me.
So why should I ramble on about family for a paragraph - what does family and respect for family have to do with travel? Travel and adventure may be about leaving everything you know and love - but its the family who supports who pushes you out of the nest to fly on your own wings for the first time - that makes coming home so sweet.
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