grown-up kids

status check - good
background ambiance - sox game

sometimes you need to be able to see yourself through the eyes of someone else to realize how you should see yourself more often than you do.

spent the day showing burlington to my 11-year-old cousin chloe (not to be confused with either my dc roommate or "arcadia" character, both of the same name), while also spending some good-natured teasing time with my parents. they brought her up for the afternoon to give her the chance to hang out with me and experience a different scene than her typical way-southern vermont environment.

it was a delightful experience for all involved. chloe clearly loved hanging out with the grown-ups, and we (i include myself in the grown-up group quite loosely) got a kick out of playing around more than usual. we didn't do anything particularly spectacular - just wandered, really - but everyone was in high spirits and peppered the experience with jokes and stories.

what really touched me about the experience, however, was looking through the sunday paper while savoring ben & jerry's goodness at the scoop shop. i was showing my story to the folks when chloe asked if she could have the copy. later, she asked for a picture of me and said she wanted to cut out the story, mount it on paper, add the picture and show it to her friends and have it in her room.

i was touched - it was just a story about a superintendent, but she seemed so excited to see her cousin's story in the paper. and she later took my arm and told me that i'm the coolest cousin ever and that she can't wait to see me again soon. i promised her that we'd get to hang out again soon and that we'd figure out a way to get her back up to burlington to spend some more cousin time together.

i flashed back to being her age at various family reunions, fascinated by my older cousins who just seemed so mature and with it. i loved it when they'd hang out with me at these functions, playing around or asking about my life.

i never thought i'd wind up ranking in that category in someone else's eyes - let alone a young lady who's turned into quite the cool girl. i can't believe how quickly she's grown up - i can't even imagine how i'll deal with such a sensation when it's a child of my own (and i can't believe i just said that).

it was just a delightful end to the weekend - i had just wrapped up the surreal, anticlimactic experience of an alumni reunion weekend and, thankfully, was able to enjoy the surreal, unexpected experience of a family reunion afternoon.

tomorrow - sending in the fellowship application. think good thoughts.
tonight - revel in the fact that boston's up 2-0 in the world series. go sox - you're making me proud! safe travels to st. louis ...