Kathleen Botsford: Spring Break

It's a relatively quiet week here. All three of the kids have a different week for Spring Break so that makes getting away difficult. My husband and son spent the weekend in Miami. They had never been there and it seemed the perfect place to get some sun and refuge from the Midwest's cold and ice. They are safely home now, telling tales of Norwegian tourists and Gianni Versace's mansion.

Friday my daughter returns from Indiana University. Aside from the family dinners for which she has already submitted her requests, Alex plans to spend time in Chicago, looking for apartments. When she graduates in May she is excitedly anticipating living the life of a young professional in the big city. Alex and Dad are spending a couple of nights down town. St. Patricks Day is next week and there is no better place to be than the city of Chicago. They dye the river bright green!

Victoria's holiday is the last week in March. We are taking one of her friends and spending a few days in San Diego. I have never been there but have always heard wonderful stories. I am not a fan of L.A. and I am promised San Diego is much different. It will definitely be warm and sunny.

There have been many years when we could not afford to travel for Spring Break. We stayed at home and took little trips to the Wisconsin Dells or Chicago. The museums are always fun and the kids love strolling down Michigan Ave. We made our precious memories on a budget. I have read that one of the happy results of our countries economic down turn is the return to quality family time. I have been called a Pollyana many times in my life. I know I can be naive and I have a tendancy to over-simplify things. But wouldn't it be nice if one of the silver linings to come out of this mess WAS less concern for money and status and more concern for family and community? If our major banks and corporations took this wake up call to redefine "success" wouldn't we all benefit? I wonder.