Trueda and I spent the day with our daughter Rebecca, our son-in-law Alex, and our grandson Eli. Eli is delightfully two months old. He interacts with his world much more than when I last saw him. At one point, I made a motorboat sound with my lips. He stared at me intently for a moment, and then his face lit up with a million watt smile. Then his mouth formed a “O” and he made a “Hooooo” sound. I burst out laughing, and his smile changed into a forehead-furrowed frown. He continued staring at me, as if to ask “Who are you?” and “Why are you making those silly noises?”

They say that grandchildren trump everything. Our decision-making scale had been strongly tipping in favor of moving to Ecuador (or some other Latin American country) in a year and a half. It would allow us to live relatively inexpensively for two years until I take my Social Security, while at the same time providing us with a wonderful cross-cultural adventure. Eli has changed the balance. Now we have to re-evaluate to understand how far the other way he has tipped the scale. Sigh.