Another birthday on the road

I’m no stranger to travel. After having spent the majority of my career covering stories in more than 65 nations of the world, travel is second nature. I know the layout of the major airports of the world like many people know their neighborhoods.  But no matter how much time I spend on the road, being away from my family for holidays and special events always hurts.

There have been some good times… I remember a Thanksgiving spent with a CBN television crew in an amazing Chinese restaurant in New York’s Chinatown.  We spent hours there laughing and telling war stories.  A few years later, my wife and I were in London for a fortnight working on Explo 85 for Campus Crusade. On Christmas Eve we wandered the rainy, darkened streets, searching for a restaurant. Finally, we hailed a cab who “knew a place” and in that little, cramped, basement Italian restaurant we were made to feel like family.

Yesterday was my birthday, and although I had a great lunch with the other television professionals that I was working with, it was hard making myself stop working and leave the studio.  I didn’t want to be alone. 

But Facebook to the rescue!  Throughout the evening and into the night, scores of people from literally around the world wished me happy birthday. As I enjoyed my medium rare filet mignon stuffed with crabmeat, I could smile remembering good times and good friends, many met on the road.