Back from Vacation and Life in the Slow Lane

Spent the last week in West (By God) Virginia, visiting my sister and her husband. They have two sons, one of whom still lives nearby with three boys of his own, and, of course, a wife. They own houses and cars and go to church and work every day in health care, so they feel good about what they do to earn a living. This is what most Americans do and do we, the artistic elite, the rebels and the opinionators really understand them? Is this why we have to hug both coasts and laugh at them  while they, in turn, shake their heads at us and take the car in for a lube job while the wife gets the groceries because these things must be done. Did we escape some nightmare or miss the boat? My Coastal friends have much but seem to be missing out on the spouses, kids, and houses. I get a nagging feeling sometimes that...yes, we are missing something that it’s too late to recapture. I’m not talking about breakfast at Shoney’s but the real things. The love of a spouse or a child. I have a friend holding out for the absolutely perfect woman, with an exacting list of her requirements down to her height. Surprise! Surprise! He hasn’t found her after a thirty year search. What about the two or three good guys who bored me in College but would have been great husbands. Where are all those bad boys, those exciting boys? Gone. Gone. Gone. I’m not saying we should regret our lives, but perhaps we shouldn’t be so fast to laugh off the lives of those who are creating the next generation and making a rich and unique life that can be a family.