Sunday, November 16, 2014

Sundays in My City - Homeward Bound in Seventeen Days: I Love You


Coastal Scene Near Pacifica, California

Well, really, it's hard to say where home is nowadays. I have spent about as much time in India as I have in California over the last three years.  If I could establish some sort of
residency, open a bank account, and get health insurance, I would actually live here most of the time and go home twice a year for two months.  Why? Mainly because it is affordable .. and I like this country. I have so many friends here, from youngsters to people my age, get very reasonable massage, can die here without spending a fortune for cremation and departure from this earth and they have some amazing, reasonably priced hospitals as well.  I can eat inexpensively, find someone to clean, cook, wash and iron for barely a dent
in my retirement income and participate in any number
of wonderful festivals that take place.  

The downside, of course, is that my three sons live in
California and so does my daughter-in-love, Laura, and my sweet granddaughter, Harper Ann,and the two granddogs.  In spite of Skype,not one of them seems predisposed to stay in touch with me that way - though, when I am in the U.S., my Indian friends always keep in touch  via those modalities or Viber, We Chat, etc.  I am a woman of the internet. Air fare is costly between the two countries, often $1000+ round trip and it is a long journey, sometimes 25 to 30 hours.



Jal Mahal, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

I've been very pensive the last week or so, acknowledging
that I am aging and may not be able to continue to keep up this international travel forever.  Words for a poem came to mind so here it is.


I Love You

The days rush by too quickly,
Minutes go so fast.
Those we love pass through our lives, 
The treasured times don't last.

Do we pause to cherish them,
While we have the chance?
Or does God take them from us,
While we look askance?

Three simple words, "I love you,"
Are not so hard to say,
We may feel them very often,
But not say them day by day.

I often feel the anguish of a friend,
And his overwhelming pain,
At the death of one most cherished,
And words cannot be said again.

The world would be much happier,
If we'd take time, now and then,
To tell our loved ones how we feel,
From family to special friend.

Carmen Henesy
November 12, 2014


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24 comments:

  1. Wonderful photo of the coast of California. His life continues to be exciting!

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    1. That California scene, only 16 miles from downtown San Francisco and three miles from where I lived for 35 years, seems very far from Mumbai, India - but I head home in just two weeks after a five month stay here. I'll stay five months, enjoying my little granddaughter, who is now a year and a half old, before returning to India which is so much more affordable, now that I am retired.

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  2. Too bad you can't have all the things you love on one side of the world.

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    1. Joan, you are so right. I will buy a lottery ticket every week while I'm home. I wouldn't mind first class travel and having a bungalow here in India and visiting for three months, then home for three months!!! That might be the best of both world. I won't keep my fingers crossed, though.

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  3. I think it's exciting to travel and call many places your home.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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    1. I have to agree with you. While I did struggle a bit raising three wonderful sons, pretty much alone, I was fortunate to have a very good nursing position. We have always traveled and, now that I am 70 and retired, I still have wanderlust.

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  4. A beautiful poem -- I wish you many years of this life that brings you so much. I hope to visit India one day.
    Happy Sunday!
    :-)
    Traci

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    1. Thanks for the good wishes, Traci. I grew to love India when I started cruising on Royal Caribbean ( 87 cruises in 20 years ) - half the staff are from this wonderful country and, in the year and a half I've spent here out of the past three, I've spent several months with crew friends and their families.

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  5. Beautiful photograph of the California coast. Regarding getting older and keeping up with your travel, I sympathize it is hard. My 72 year old mother boarded a bus traveling from Munich (my home) to Berlin all by herself. She was nervous, I was nervous, but on the other end she was thrilled to have done it on her own. She has to take a few more taxi's these days and her feet don't keep up with her brain, but she is still getting out there. She is inspirational.

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    1. Good for your mother. I totally sympathize with her. While here in India, just riding the autorickshaws is a challenge and a bit terrifying. Have you seen, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"? If not, both you and your mom should see it. I lived in Jaipur for five months a couple of visits ago and is shows that area of India beautifully - & the best English actors/actresses are in the movie.

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  6. One of the reasons we stay in Canada is because of our health insurance. We too consider the days when our travel will be limited.

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    1. I keep hoping Prime Minister Modi will make some changes regarding non Indians opening bank accounts and obtaining health insurance. I'm covered by my insurance when I'm at home but they don't cover anything when I'm traveling out of the country. It is scary.

      India actually has some incredible hospitals and doctors and reasonable health care.

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  7. Great picture of a beautiful coastline

    Mollyxxx

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    1. That is one of my favorites of all time. Funny, that spot is next to the Pacifica, CA dump, which is about 15 miles from downtown San Francisco. It is always so beautiful in springtime when the daisies have reseeded themselves and are in bloom.

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  8. Hi Carmen, I can read how torn and concerned you are... Traveling is difficult on short trips let alone ones that take more than a day to complete. I hope you find peace over the next few weeks and can enjoy your last days in India this time around. And I'm pretty sure that once you lay eyes on your family your heart will swell with more love that it an hold.
    Safe travels my friend, xo jj

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    1. Oh, Joanna, it always warms my heart to see a post from you. I am sure once I get packed and organized, all things will settle down and I'll be glad to head home for awhile. I am a little annoyed with my son, Alex. Only once in this five months, on my birthday, did he get on Skype so I could see and chat with Harper. I had asked that he do it every two weeks so she would remember Nana and there would not be this period of adjustment for her. I will again be staying with them, helping with child care until I return to India in May. Much to my regret, I think I may be having a total shoulder replacement on my right shoulder....more of a recovery for me that the left was since I, of course, am right handed. We shall see. I will be glad to drink good wine, that's for sure.

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  9. Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos and poem.

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    1. It's nice to see you here...and your blog is always so beautiful.

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    2. My goodness you brought me to tears with this one. So beautiful and heartfelt.

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  10. You make a good case for living in India, Carmen. Congratulations on making such a success of it.

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    1. I wish my pension hadn't been halved by budget cuts....then I might be able to visit Sicily which would be so wonderful. I've stopped for a day a couple of times on cruises but I'd like to spend at least one week. Maybe in the next life if we get another go round.

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  11. Nice picture there, Carmen! What a lovely life if all of us had those Sundays too :)

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  12. Wow, Lazy Penguins is a sensation blog...so beautiful and interesting. I can tell I'll be spending a lot of time there.

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