Is it possible that knowing family members or their dependents are visiting could feel like a burden—an activity that, given your age of over 85, might affect you? Or, put another way, is it no longer the time to welcome them into our homes?
I ask you this question about family visits. Could it be a problem, or how to overcome economic, health, or other difficulties that might affect your desire to welcome them into your home? If not possible, it would make it easier to keep such relatives at a distance. Wow, this would also make it harder to connect with those family members, and even friends or neighbors. In other words, we would all become less interested in them, precisely because we are octogenarians. I don’t think so.
We should objectively consider the benefits of staying in touch not only with our family but also with those who, even if they aren’t family, find themselves in difficult situations. I believe so. After all, depending on the circumstances, they may be alone, which is painful and unfair, especially for kind-hearted people like you and me, right? Today for you, tomorrow for me.
In my personal case, I concluded that family members—especially close friends—should maintain active relationships that allow for exchange, particularly with those we sometimes unnecessarily distance ourselves from, as they represent an important value, especially in special situations.
Let’s look at an example. Recently, I learned that relatives from my country were planning to visit Orlando during the second week of August on a short work-related trip. Wow! It would be wonderful to travel to Port St. Lucie, and for me, it was a source of immense joy. Several of the travelers hadn’t visited us in 20 years.
I promptly started planning my visit to attend to them properly, I told myself. I will happily welcome them, setting aside—or rather, moving up—the distribution of mangoes, language classes, etc. They would be coming in a group of nine adults and two children. Both they and I were pleased to agree to make the most of Friday and travel back to their base on Saturday.
I immediately realized I needed to make some repairs, including painting the kitchen, bathrooms, driveway, and arranging beds, since they would be staying overnight on August 9. The ideal place for lunch would be our favorite restaurant, Golden Corral. Well, I had to act quickly.
I couldn’t forget to prepare the meal for August 9, which would be at our home for 12 people—nine adults, two youngsters, and myself.
Immediate action. First, thanks to the kindness of the administration at Holy Family Catholic Church, they would graciously provide us with a list of places to visit the next day. Wonderful. Very grateful.
I quickly saw that the availability of mangoes had declined, so if necessary, we would offer them frozen mangoes, which we had reserved for personal consumption. And what about the food?
Oh! That was a dish by the expert Chayo, with her specialty in “Amish Chicken.” We were all completely amazed by its deliciousness. And the lunch?
It was a full meal where we all found the delicacies we wanted to enjoy in the private dining room at Golden Corral in Port St. Lucie. How great that this room was reserved so our guests could freely share comments or jokes.
Additionally, we enjoyed the stories and jokes from Nelson, Luisito, and Lilita, who kept us laughing throughout one of the best lunches. We expressed our gratitude to the management.
Image: By Nelson Merchan-Cely
