The Absent Uncle: It's April

It’s April and my wife and I are packing up and heading to Mexico. To be more precise – to Cabo San Lucas.

Before you pass judgement on us – rich and privileged we are not – we were introduced to Cabo by her mom, who was introduced by a co-worker and got us involved with a timeshare. We got lucky, saw a chance, had a bit of a bonus to invest … and some 24 years later, we travel on down, thankful for some time in our home, away from home. 

Our little place was one of the first timeshares in Cabo. They proclaim it was the first – whatever. It is a small resort; only 124 units. You stay in the same villa, the same week every year. Those are the rules. You get to know your fellow home-away-from-home neighbors. 

I know I have written about this experience – I have lost good friends to age and just bad health luck. But we are so looking forward to seeing old friends, the resort staff, the dive bar next door and the wonderful people that run it, and frankly – just being there. 

Right about January I start to think about it. I get our flights arranged; check in with friends to see if any changes in their schedules are happening. The closer it gets to April, the preparations tend to get more intense. We are in the final week! Trying to make sure that we don’t forget about things to take, things we have forgotten in the past. I have an ongoing list of those things to check off.

I will never take this wonderful time for granted. To have the health, mobility, economic means, and the desire to experience our month together in Mexico (which we dreamed about years ago, and my wonderful wife said ‘would never happen’) is truly magical. We started with one week, added a second shortly thereafter and in 2018, we doubled to four. We missed out during Covid and another year when health challenges stopped us. But this will be our fourth year in row having four weeks. 

Every week of the four is slightly different. Different people arrive as others depart; the repetitive weekly events stay the same, but the group reacts to those things differently from week to week. It’s interesting to watch. 

But here we are. Humbly, I am so thankful for all those events that had to have transpired as they did to make this happen and that somehow, we have it all to enjoy.