Enlightening the In-Laws
I married into the most wonderful Greek family almost 15 years
ago. My husband's elderly parents are first-generation Greek
immigrants living in London, Ontario, Canada. My husband Arch and
I live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We love to travel, but
Arch's Mom and Dad had no concept of traveling for just the fun
and adventure of it. They thought us to be frivolous and
indulgent to spend money to see places that "you could see
better on TV."
They would visit Greece to visit relatives and would come to
visit us for a few weeks each year to escape the Canadian
winter, but we were determined to introduce them to traveling
just for the heck of it, not just to see family.
We chose a ten-day trip to the American Southwest, so that I
could show the family the Grand Canyon. I had visited there as a
teenager, but my husband had never been there. He thought that
Niagara Falls would have the Grand Canyon beat for natural
beauty. This was a challenge I had to take!
Bottom line, the guided bus tour was a big success and the
parents really loved seeing the West. The highlight of the
tour, next to the Canyon, was an overnight in Las Vegas.
I took it upon myself to introduce my in-laws to the concept of
gambling at Caesar's Palace. They had never played any game of
chance, so I started them off with quarter slots, and they were
really enjoying themselves until I spotted my father-in-law
feeding his credit card into one of the slot machines...he had
caught the fever! So we dragged him to the buffet and put them
to bed that night a little poorer, but richer in experience! As
my father-in-law said as we departed Vegas the next
morning, "Boy, these Las Vegas machines are hungry!"
They have gone with us on cruises since that first trip. We have
tried to pick easy traveling options for them, and they have
really enjoyed spending the time with us and seeing new things.
Arch's Mom is not well now and can't travel, but we often talk
about our travel adventures. I am glad we talked them into
giving traveling a try, just for fun.
Laura
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