I hope everyone enjoys the holidays just try to relax.

[DFW]

39. Just picked up our "USA" daughter from the airport. The world gets put on hold for a day or two.

This is one of those rare times of the year when all four of us are under the same roof. All five of us, really, as my wife picked up her mom from her house in northwestern Germany a couple of days ago.

Our younger daughter drove up from Frankfurt, and I managed to get done with things I had to do over in the Netherlands yesterday afternoon. Our elder daughter's flight was fifteen minutes early from New York, but their jetway was occupied, and they had to wait on the runway for fifteen minutes. So we spend today here in the Rheinland, and all travel down tomorrow to our younger daughter's place she shares with her boyfriend in the Taunus hills near Frankfurt. Tuesday, my wife and I, plus the two girls and the German boyfriend all fly, via various routes, to South Carolina, where we always spend New Year's.

We'll all take a break from the worrying. We'll not forget that not everyone can. We'll be back to worrying soon enough. Like the OP said, we need to do this for those will will come after. We just learned that our first grandchild is on the way. We don't even know if our daughter will even try to obtain U.S. citizenship for her son/daughter (she doesn't want to know in advance). That's her decision. But if she goes for dual citizenship, I hope the second nationality (USA, that is) turns out to be something to be proud of. My daughter has had a fabulous career so far (she is 32), in part due to the fact that she is bilingual and has both passports (USA and Germany). Those are precious gifts if you are in a position to give them to your children. Her call, though.