Valentine wishes to one & all

Dear Readers: Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all, along with our special good wishes to all of our veterans in VA hospitals around the country. And our particular thanks and appreciation to those readers who have taken the time to send valentines, visit the vets and volunteer at VA facilities. Bless each and every one of you. You are truly caring and compassionate.

Dear Annie: I’m looking for an essay that appeared in your column a few years ago. It was about an elderly man celebrating a birthday. He spent the whole day waiting, but no one came to see him. I visited my mother today in a nursing home. She brought up this column, and I promised to try to track it down. Can you help?

Loving Daughter

Dear Daughter: Happy to. Here it is:

It Was Grandfather’s Birthday

By Rudy Joe Mano

(reprinted with permission)

It was Grandfather’s birthday. He was 79. He got up early, shaved, showered, combed his hair and put on his Sunday best so he would look nice when they came.

He skipped his daily walk to the town cafe where he had coffee with his cronies. He wanted to be home when they came.

He put his porch chair on the sidewalk so he could get a better view of the street when they drove up to help celebrate his birthday.

At noon, he got tired but decided to forgo his nap so he could be there when they came.

Most of the rest of the afternoon he spent near the telephone so he could answer it when they called.

He has five married children, 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. One son and a daughter live within 10 miles of his place. They hadn’t visited him for a long time.

But today was his birthday and they were sure to come.

At suppertime, he left the cake untouched so they could cut it and have dessert with him. After supper, he sat on the porch waiting.

At 8:30, he went to his room to prepare for bed. Before retiring, he left a note on the door that read:

“Be sure to wake me when you come.”

It was Grandfather’s birthday. He was 79.

Dear Annie: May I add another solution for disgruntled family members trying to visit the hometown?

A decade ago, with four young children, we often traveled great distances to visit my family every year. We had to use vacation time from work and pay for plane tickets, hotels and a rental car, and often arrived to discover that no one had time to spend with us, even though we planned our visits around their schedules.

We no longer go yearly. We’ve made it clear that they are welcome to come here, and we would even pay their travel expenses. So far, no one has accepted. Now we visit every two or three years and use websites that offer vacation rentals in homes that fit our budget. We tell our family that we’re in town and leave it up to them to make plans to spend time with us. We then spend our vacation actually vacationing — seeing the sights, visiting old friends and relaxing.

Older & Wiser Traveler

Creators Syndicate