Zezza
Coming full circle — fashion, fads, music, toys, birthday cakes, youth sports.
Even people. People like me.
So many of us — particularly those who were raised in Wyoming Valley and surrounding areas — find ourselves right back where we started. Young men and women with visions of faraway places, from big cities to seashore towns to mountain escapes, leave the region and often end up coming home to retire. Unless, of course, the winters that seem to eat up our springtime are just too much to bear.
I’ve never left the area, though I often dreamed about it. Like many who were raised here with strong family bonds, I found it difficult to leave behind parents and siblings. Then, as time went on, my children decided to remain here, too. So, my grandchildren have become the reason I stay.
I spent 30 years in the journalism field in Wilkes-Barre, starting off with a column about scholastic girls field hockey. When my first child was born in 1985, I debuted a weekly column called “From the Heart” about life as a new, working mom. Years later, my weekly message about local issues was published in the Greater Wilkes-Barre Leader, one of six community publications. When I left the field in 2009 as city editor of this newspaper, I also left behind my spot on Page 3A in the Sunday edition.
So, here I am again. This is my full circle. Part of it.
I experience déjà vu in other parts of my life, too. Ending up at local Little League, softball and soccer fields on the weekends. Special-order birthday cakes for little ones. Frequenting familiar pizza parlors and ice cream shops with grandkids and telling them stories about their parents.
Just last week I found myself making a Mario birthday cake for Grandchild No. 4. It struck me as funny since one of my first attempts at decorating a character cake was 30-plus years ago when my son requested the same popular video icon for his special day.
That’s when I realized that coming full circle (translation: getting old) brings with it freedom from stress and the need for perfection. I recall fretting over those first cakes. I felt the need to ensure they looked as good as a professional bakery product so you couldn’t tell that my main purpose was to save money by making my own cake.
One of the best gifts that comes with time is the wisdom and peace borne of experience. I now know that a not-so-perfect-looking cake has nothing to do with a perfect day shared with family and friends. Kids won’t remember if the printing on the cake was perfectly aligned but somewhere, down the road, they will remember that Grandma made their birthday cakes but, most of all, made sure their childhood memories were sprinkled with fun, laughter and love.
When I first became a grandma some 13 years ago, many people told me the best part of being a grandparent was the fact that the kids leave at the end of the day.
I must be odd since I don’t always feel that way. Yes, they tire me out. Yes, I could use some quiet time and a cup of coffee on the back deck. But, standing on the front porch blowing kisses and waving goodbye at the end of the day is tinged with a bit of melancholy, too.
Because coming full circle means you know how the story ends. You know that time passes way too quickly, seemingly even faster the older you get. You know that the birthday cakes and soccer games will become memories, too, and the visits to Grandma’s house will become fewer as time goes on and these little ones start chasing dreams of their own.
Renita Fennick Zezza was a reporter, editor and columnist in Wilkes-Barre for 30 years before moving on to other fields. You can email her at rmzezza@gmail.com.
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Renita Fennick Zezza was a reporter, editor and columnist in Wilkes-Barre for 30 years before moving on to other fields. You can email her at rmzezza@gmail.com.