What Really Matters

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Writer’s Note – I’ve been on an extended hiatus for about three months.  So, I first want to say “Thank You” to all of you who continue to stop by and check out my blog.  This blog and several to follow have been accumulating in my head for quite a while.

July 5, 2014 – About a year ago, we took our last “real” family vacation…we went to three marvelous locations in Canada.  (You can read about it in more detail at my other blog: Billett Travel Blog.  I don’t update it very often, but we do have some great pictures on the site.)  The significance of this trip is that it was the last “family adventure” we had before I received my metastatic melanoma diagnosis in late July (2013).

It was a fantastic vacation, but like many Billett family vacations, far from perfect.  That’s what helps to make our time together as a family so special.  We can sit around later on and tell and re-tell stories that are funny, silly, frustrating, or a combination of all three.  It’s being able to spend that time together – and I emphasize “together” – that makes these trips so special.  I look back at the pictures and I think of the wonderful scenery or unique locales, but it’s seeing the smiles on the faces of my family that me feel so good inside.

It’s being together and sharing these experiences that really matters.  That’s the “theme” of this post: What Really Matters.  Like many of you, we’ve been to a lot of great destinations, and some of them have been incredible: Western Canada, Amsterdam, The Hague, London, Vermont…the list goes on.  What really matters, however, is that I have been able to share these incredible journeys with my wife and kids.  As I get older, a little more philosophical, and – maybe – a little wiser.  I see that it’s not the destination (sounds like a cliche), nor the journey, but who you spend it with.  My family is who I want to spend my days and nights with…whether it’s at an outdoor restaurant in Old Montreal, or sitting outside our rented lake house staring at a sunset on Lake Champlain in Vermont, these are the three most important people in my universe.  My family. 

What Really Matters



I absolutely love Canada and would always recommend a trip to visit our northern neighbors.  We have made three trips to Canada – different parts – and have loved it each time.  The picture above (July 2013) is significant because it was taken early evening on the last night we were in Montreal.  The next day we got on a plane headed back to Memphis.

Thanks for listening….the journey continues.

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