Robert Ebsen

This is an unusual day, with nothing scheduled. It’s 7:44 a.m.  I had a good sleep last night, thanks to a whole Tylenol PM. I have been sitting in bed thinking of what to write about this week.  Nothing stands out yet as a real passion.

My wife’s birthday is coming up on Sunday, and my son is coming in from San Francisco.  My son, my wife and I, my daughter, her husband and their two children and my 98-year-old mom, will go to a restaurant to celebrate my wife’s birthday. It seems to me that my passion this week is being lucky enough to have family around.

My eldest daughter and my grandson are on the other side of the country. We enjoy sending presents to my grandson, and reading his handwritten thank-you notes.  My daughter and her son are with us in spirit.

One day my wife and I will finish hauling off most of our worldly possessions to Goodwill. Then we will move to the city to be closer to our grandchildren who live there.  My passion for that time will be to have enough ground in the back of a duplex, which we will share with our daughter’s family, to put together a covered aboveground pool that will enable me to swim all year. That swimming, plus spending time with the grandchildren, is my passion for the future.

What creature comforts will I bring with me to my duplex in the city?

I will bring my pool heater, my iPhone, my Mac computer, my printer, my external hard drive, my zip ties, my two pocket shirts, my good jeans and my work jeans.  I will bring my two comfortable pillows, the Shutterfly and other books I have written, and a few other things.

Yes, my passion this week is realizing that what’s really important – even more than creature comforts – is Family.

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com