Summer, the fishmonger, luck and adventure
Summer is approaching and, like every year, my wife and I find ourselves in the same dilemma: we believe it is important that the whole family go together to spend a week in a destination far from our city; But housing ten people and paying them from a single pocket is more than complicated.
It's not only difficult to accommodate so many people. In addition, although our van has nine seats, we are already ten and very soon we will be eleven. So, we must send separately one of the older children either by bus or train, to meet the rest of the family.
And finally, what close and cheap destination can be attractive to all our children, from the one who is 2 years old to the one who will soon turn 18? Because attention! From the age of 14, the 'adolfos' (so we have baptized our adolescent children) have such an influence that they can easily embitter a happy family holiday, if they begin to drag their stretched bodies like ghosts and hammer our heads insisting that they They are bored, they do not know what to do and they would like to return to our house as soon as possible.
In this dynamic we found ourselves, when in an interval of just ten days, two providential events that I would like to share with all of you.
For about two years, we used to buy fish once a week at a market stall closest to our house. Our relationship with the young couple who runs this trade did not usually go beyond comments about the prices and the qualities of the genre that it offered, that is, conversations of the type How much do you have the hake? Can you clean the slices well so there are no thorns?
Well, within a few weeks of knowing that our family was increasing again with the arrival of a new son, "the fishmonger" proposed that we go to his apartment located on the Costa Dorada in an urbanization with the last ten days of June. pool and a few meters from the beach. He insisted that he would not accept a negative response and that, of course, the electricity and water costs were on his own.
To our great astonishment, last night, an acquaintance of the school we took our children to, sent us a WhatsApp so that the next day we would see each other for a moment at the entrance of the school. The reason was none other than proposing that the last week of July had his mountain house in the Pyrenees free and that he would be very happy to have the whole family there. Of course, without us paying anything in return.
In both cases, it seemed as if they would be bothered if we refused their invitation. Moreover, they seemed enthusiastic about the idea of us occupying their homes for a few days of summer and without expecting any reward on our part.
To whom we tell these extraordinary and surprising events, they conclude arguing that we have been very lucky. However, I am convinced that behind these recent events, the coming of our ninth child along with these two summer invitations, is the invisible hand of Providence. Tolkien wrote in one of his letters: "I am, in fact, a Christian, so I do not expect history to be anything other than a long defeat, even if it contains some samples or glimpses of the final Victory." This "fortune" that we are living presents itself rather as a glimpse of that final victory that prevails against scenarios that seem implausible.
Or, in other words, perhaps more poetic, I have frequently observed that whoever puts himself in favor of life, life is in his favor.
In no way do I think that all the adventures and events that our family has experienced have been due to luck as this ordinary term is understood.
Because "a life open to life" is like an adventure. For example, who has traveled on foot during a summer on the Camino de Santiago, from Roncesvalles to Santiago, certainly have experienced situations and lived experiences that who, that same summer, would have stayed peacefully in their city, comfortably established, will not be able to appreciate Never.
In the same way, when we began this adventure of "thisfamilywelove" almost 20 years ago, we set out on the road awakening from our vital somnolence; and we embarked on this journey convinced that, abandoning our selfish life of comfort and pleasure, in the shadow of our "free sacrifice", we would obtain the true prize.
As it happens with the adventures that are not usually comfortable, neither it is not to take ahead a numerous family; but precisely, the discomfort of them is the reason for their usefulness; because, they impel us to leave our comfort zone to travel in search of the truth that lies beyond oneself.
Thanks to these people sent as angels, our vacations will be free. However, the deep value they involve is much more important than their price.Because, as Oscar Wilde said, "many people know the price of everything and the value of nothing".
It may interest you:
- Family leisure: the eldest also comes
- How to organize family plans
- The older brother, his role in the family
