We’re out in Palm Springs, CA with all our kids and grandkids. We’ve rented a very cool house with a spa, swimming pool, ping pong table and even an arcade video game. The weather has been great unlike back home in Pittsburgh (and about everywhere else).

Granddaughter Kyra will love hanging out with her older cousins and she’ll schedule the games and events around the house which will probably include “Diving for Dimes,” and playing “Things The Never Taught You In School.”  I’m actually glad that they are not teaching kids that the average American uses 50 rolls of toilet paper a year.

We’ll go hiking at Indian Canyon and make a visit to Joshua Tree. There is a cool street fair on Thursday night, and we’ll head over there to mingle with the locals. We’ll have a few meals at Sherman’s Deli whose portions and Jewish roots rival those of the Carnegie’s in New York.

Sheila and I, from the earliest days of our marriage made it our business to schedule fun vacations for the family even when we could barely afford them. Ski trips, Cancun, big cities, and little hamlets are all amazing memories hanging on the walls of our home. We like to look back at them and reminisce about the fun at Toad Hall in Colorado or the time Sheila went parasailing with a 12-year-old at the helm of the speedboat. Yikes!

This year’s memories will build a new bank of special times with our family, especially if I can win the ping pong tournament.

Best wishes for amazing times with your family and beautiful new traditions that will carry into the new year and the next generation.

© Richard Citrin 2022