Promises, Promises

    My husband and I have the honor of being parents to an only child, a fabulously charming young man to whom we’ve attempted to show the world as he has grown up.

  We also have the honor of being aunt and uncle to three equally charming nephews who are among our favorite creatures to harass, tease and in general give a hard time to.

   So over the years, we’ve invited said nephews to travel with us on vacations and some work-related trips as age appropriate companions to our son. The first destination was Disney World, followed by a few trips to Colorado and horseback riding for a week in the Kansas Flint Hills.  Then there was the trip to Boston, which has since become known in our family circle as Aunt Diana’s Bataan Death March to Every Historic Site on the East Coast.

   But we’ve had fun, and hope the nephews have had as well. 

 Except poor Aaron.  Aaron is the baby of the family and a real cutie (he looks like his Aunt Diana).  But by the simple fate of birth order, logistics and other factors out of everyone’s control, it’s always been one of Aaron’s older brothers to hop in a mini-van or on an airplane with his cousin, aunt and uncle.

   Once as we were loading the vehicle with one of his big brothers and the many accoutrements of a teenage boy, Aaron stood off to the side with a forlorn look on his face. Realizing how he must have felt, I gave him a big hug, promising him that the very next trip was his. 

   “Anywhere you wanna go, that’s where we’ll go,” I said, fully expecting him to ask for Disney World or some place with a beach, or an otherwise typical destination for an eight-year-old boy.

   As we continued the loading process, Aaron was very quiet.  Finally, as we were saying our good-byes, Aaron had made his decision, announcing in very certain terms his preferred destination.

   “Aunt Diana, I’ve heard about that big wall they have over there in China, and I’d really like to see that some day.”

   We were flabbergasted that he had even heard of the Great Wall, but we promised to do our best.

   Well, now the Beijing Olympics are underway.  Little Aaron is going to be 16 in a few days, and he was really counting on Uncle Bruce, who does a lot of sports photography, to get him to China to see that big wall for his birthday.

    That hasn’t worked out, nor has a trip Aunt Diana was planning to China in ’09.  But we’re not forgetting our promise to our nephew, nor our own desire to see that Great Wall, the Forbidden City and all of the exotic mysteries of China.

   In the meantime, perhaps Aaron and others who have a desire to learn about China can read a story I have in this week’s Kansas City Star.  It’s a virtual story, for virtual travelers, complete with virtual souvenirs, post cards and the works.

   And next week I’ll have another story in the Star that I was able to research and write on line.  It’s about sites that were built for the Olympics but will be there long afterwards the games are over – sites that travelers to the great city in the future will not want to miss.   

That’s you and me, Aaron baby!  You, me and that big wall over there.  Keep your passport ready.  I haven’t forgotten, I promise.