Back to the Beginning

Sometimes we want to go back in time, if just for a day

To the dismay of my then four young adult children, every birthday I answered their question with the same motherly line: “All I want as a gift are happy children.”

“God, Mom! There has to be something you want,” Jenni, grumbled. “We want to buy you a gift. Why do you make this so difficult?”

Thinking back to their annual plea, I had to agree. Sure, a nice purse or a pretty piece of jewelry would have been lovely. But the truth was, and still is, that all I ever desired, from the moment they were born, was for them to be happy. Then, it hit me — the perfect gift.

“OK, I know what I want next year,” I shared happily on my fifty-fifth birthday in 2007, as one-by-one each called to wish me a lovely day. “I want us all to go to Disneyland one more time.”

First, there was silence on the other end of the phone. Then, a moan. Finally, the question: “Disneyland? Why there?”

Afraid to tell them the real reason behind my desire, I stated “Well, I happen to love that place, and you’ve been asking what I want — so this is it.”

For the next several months, I nagged, pleaded, pestered and cajoled until they finally agreed on a date in October that wouldn’t conflict with any…