Mom Comes For A Birthday Visit

Earlier this week my mother left to return to her home in Ohio after spending a week with us. She came in for my four year old son’s birthday which was the first time for her to do so. The last time she saw him was almost two years ago. All the other grandkids grew up in the same area and indeed still live there today but I’ve always been the one in the family to roam and unfortunately that means we live quite a bit of distance from each other. It was good to see her but I knew that the week was all about her and my son spending time together, that was the most important thing and they both loved the time they had. To be certain all of us need to make a better effort at seeing each other more often and the past week showed us how important it is for my son Johnny.

He needs to see his relatives as often as possible so I’m already thinking about trying to fly back home later in the year, at least for a week or so if I can. After that we need to find a way to save the money it will cost for us to go back to Peru and visit my wife’s family there. To make that happen costs quite a bit of money and I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with a way to procure the funds but so far nothing has come to fruition, especially since I don’t foresee a future for myself as a bank robber or thief. Too much bad karma there if you ask me.

So instead I try and call once a week and I’d like to get everyone on Skype so that we could all do a video conference and at least see each other as well but it’s like pulling teeth to get anyone to listen to me. I mean it’s free as long as you’ve got an internet connection. Doesn’t get much better than that does it? I’m not really a phone person and I’ve never been one to call very much. When I was single I would call maybe once a month or so if they were lucky, okay really my family usually would call me and I rarely was the one to call. Gotta be honest with myself since it is my blog.

As we get older it becomes clearer to me how much more important it is to talk about things now because honestly we don’t know how much time we have left in this world. Personally I don’t want to leave something to chance on the hopes that I can always talk about it later. In the past my motto was why talk about something today when I can put it off until tomorrow but that just doesn’t cut it anymore. All it took was having a kid for me to realize that.


Published by Don Leach

Family Can Be A Strange Thing

Growing up my family was never particularly close. We just weren't an affectionate family. We never hugged or kissed each other nor did we say "I love you." Now that we're older we do hug and say "I love you" however I only talk to my mother and older sister about once a week or so. I couldn't even tell you when the last time I spoke with my younger sister was but that's for different reasons. In this case it's her choice to keep away from the family no matter how much it hurts the rest of us. I can't really explain it, only she can. She's never even met my wife and son but that's for her to deal with, I only think of it occasionally now.



My wife talks to her mother who lives in Pennsylvania just about every day and then to her brother Gary every so often. Since he's in Peru it makes it a bit harder but hopefully soon we can make it easier once we switch our phone service to a different provider and she can get a plan to call to Peru as much as she wants. I don't get to talk to her brother much but we've got a lot in common, the least of which is our admiration for most things Star Wars. Plus our son adored him when we were able to go for a visit two years ago. He also writes a blog and if you want to check it out just go here. It will behoove you to speak Spanish although it's not necessarily required. After all, I don't hablo very much (which is a shame) but all I have to do is copy his text and go to a translation program like the one Google has. Sure, it loses a little something in the translation but I can get his point pretty easily.

We're both doing our writing thing although in different ways. I'm finally starting to work on my script ideas and he's working on a novel. In fact, I can't wait for him to finish it so that I can read it. Perhaps that will be a good reason for me to finally get serious about learning Spanish. I know that if we were ever to move to Peru I would have a good friend and confidant in him, someone that I could discuss ideas with and get sound advice from. I guess the best thing I can say is that I respect him as a writer and a person. That's about the highest praise I can give anyone.



I must add that the idea of moving to Peru does appeal to me but I'd have to find a way to do it financially. It doesn't cost as much to have a nice living there as it does here but I'd have to be able to come back to the U.S. at least two to three times a year to visit friends and family. There are many beautiful and wonderful things to see and do in Peru however one must also keep in mind the dangers that are there as well. Still, as long as you understand that Peru is it's own country with it's own traditions and ways of doing things and not attempt to judge it by the standards of where you live then you really can experience it completely. The U.S. is the U.S. Peru is Peru. Learn to understand that and life can be pretty sweet.

Voodoo Glow Skulls vs Guns n Roses - just for fun!!!

Just for fun I thought I'd throw up ska core band Voodoo Glow Skulls version of the GnR song "Used To Love Her" which is a great remake and a lot of fun.



And then I thought why not put the original up as well? Just a bit of mindless fun before I go to bed for the night.