Save the Date

I arrived 3 weeks late for Christmas dinner with the members of my family who observe the occasion. It didn't seem to matter. Everyone who could be present was there in good cheer for our long anticipated reunion.

I'm glad my family is as flexible as mental trapeze artists and traverse with ease, the wide range of ideas we have on faith and cultural practices between us. I really appreciate this quality of adaptability in people. And then living in distant geographies from one another for nearly all of our lives, we have missed out on being together on most birthdays, festivals and other significant occasions, not all of them celebrations. Rarely have we, as a complete tribe been able to all come together at one time and place to share our joyful rituals or our heartaches.

Given the chance, any moment can be made festive. Why be bound to a designated date on the calendar, encounter huge stressed out crowds at markets and malls who are all compelled to do exactly the same thing on the same day en masse? Why not save the date for another, more suitable time?

I arrived home to my sister Indu and brother-in-law Nick's place and along with Nicole my niece, Daniel my nephew, Susie the cat and Bruce the Jack Russell we shared a delicious meal of moussaka, a nod to Nick's Greek heritage and a recipe Indu learnt from her mother-in-law Effie.

We sent out love beams across the continents thinking of all who were in attendance with us from afar.