time for a little perspective

so you all know i am ready to hit the jet-set again. and i haven't really meant this blog to be a pity party as of late. so sorry about that.
there are serious disadvantages to the jet-set.
case in point. december 2003. germany. nuremberg. it was a weekend--the first of the famous christkindlmarkt there (very famous christmas market in germany). i was with friends, having returned earlier in the week from business in namibia.
it sounds so glamorous, doesn't it?
sunday morning, 5:30 am. i had gone to an awesome jazz club the night before.
my cell phone rings. did my parents mess up the time zones thing again?
my dad was on the line. "Fritz, this is your father." like he always says.
"your mother is in the hospital, she has a pulmonary emoblism, and might die. do you think you could come home for christmas earlier?"
i jumped out of bed, onto the internet, found the next train to frankfurt, and was off. i had just a backpack and my laptop, as i was only supposed to be on a weekend trip.
and i had just bought a case of apples that were sitting in my apartment 7 hours away.
my mom did not die. she had a long recovery and i was at home for 4 weeks.

the point of it is, it often sucks to be so far away from one's family--and i have experienced this first hand. this is an incredible opportunity to have a lot of time with them. although i am stir crazy, this is a great chance. and i need to be grateful for this. attitude adjustment in progress.

and btw, the apples rotted like a mo-fo--it was gross coming back to a whole case of moldy apples. ew.