XXVIII: our trip to Joan's Graduation
Greetings and salutations. We are fresh from a journey to Northern Virginia, the traffic jam capital of the Confederacy, for my sister Joan's college graduation and my nephew George's 1st birthday. As if the grey hairs in the mirror were not reminder enough that my youth is history, this weekend served as further enforcement of the message. My sister Jill has a 1-year old son and I can still remember flushing her pacifier down the toilet in our home in Rantoul, Illinois. My sister Joan is now a college graduate, and when Regis and I started dating - Joan was my son's age.
Since you readers are no doubt going through your own "I'm old too" mental gymnastics after that uplifting introduction, I will pause for another edition of "Maggie Says:"
The other day, Maggie gave Regis a bunch of tangled necklaces, which she had made from beads from a craft kit. She said "they are all rectangled...can you fix it." Yesterday, with the rain pouring down, Regis asked Maggie if she knew where rain came from. It is likely that Jimmy piped in with some answer about cumulonimbus clouds and barometric pressure. Maggie responded, quite obviously, that rain came from rainbows.
Raising children is so much fun. This weekend, I got to see my sister Jill in action in this regard, and I got to hear my brother-in-law say the words "he was headed for the toilet again," with respect to my fearless, yet tremendously low-key, nephew. I've never met a more laid-back kid in my life. He's great. I seriously think you could take him to a golf tournament, an art gallery, or a cannon-shooting exhibition and his expression would be the same - a content smile. What a great kid. This, of course means that Jill and Patrick's next child will force Jill to be institutionalized. Or maybe they are really good parents. Could that be it? Nah.
George still has a healthy level of mischief, as witnessed by the aforementioned toilet incident or wanting to crawl around regardless of where is - crowded room, muddy field, etc. This mischief is hereditary, clearly, after all, it was about his cousin Annie that the words "your daughter just shoved a barrette up her nose" were written.
My sister Joan's graduation was a great time as well. Joan was recognized as the winner of the prestigous Senior Achievement Award and graduated Summa Cum Laude. I know what you all are thinking - Jim must have been adopted. I've suspected it for years as well.
Excepting the 13 hours of driving (round-trip), we had a great time. And in anticipation of a response to this update from my mother - I wanted to hear someone else's take on that story rather than my own. And no, I don’t expect that to make sense to most of you.
Hope you are all are doing well.
Since you readers are no doubt going through your own "I'm old too" mental gymnastics after that uplifting introduction, I will pause for another edition of "Maggie Says:"
The other day, Maggie gave Regis a bunch of tangled necklaces, which she had made from beads from a craft kit. She said "they are all rectangled...can you fix it." Yesterday, with the rain pouring down, Regis asked Maggie if she knew where rain came from. It is likely that Jimmy piped in with some answer about cumulonimbus clouds and barometric pressure. Maggie responded, quite obviously, that rain came from rainbows.
Raising children is so much fun. This weekend, I got to see my sister Jill in action in this regard, and I got to hear my brother-in-law say the words "he was headed for the toilet again," with respect to my fearless, yet tremendously low-key, nephew. I've never met a more laid-back kid in my life. He's great. I seriously think you could take him to a golf tournament, an art gallery, or a cannon-shooting exhibition and his expression would be the same - a content smile. What a great kid. This, of course means that Jill and Patrick's next child will force Jill to be institutionalized. Or maybe they are really good parents. Could that be it? Nah.
George still has a healthy level of mischief, as witnessed by the aforementioned toilet incident or wanting to crawl around regardless of where is - crowded room, muddy field, etc. This mischief is hereditary, clearly, after all, it was about his cousin Annie that the words "your daughter just shoved a barrette up her nose" were written.
My sister Joan's graduation was a great time as well. Joan was recognized as the winner of the prestigous Senior Achievement Award and graduated Summa Cum Laude. I know what you all are thinking - Jim must have been adopted. I've suspected it for years as well.
Excepting the 13 hours of driving (round-trip), we had a great time. And in anticipation of a response to this update from my mother - I wanted to hear someone else's take on that story rather than my own. And no, I don’t expect that to make sense to most of you.
Hope you are all are doing well.
posted by Watts at 10:25 AM
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