Life has recently been making me acutely aware of how much time is passing: seeing the MIT 15 year reunion photos from my sorority sisters in the class after mine; realizing that all my female peers and I are actually at the make-or-break point for having children; reconnecting with an old friend and realizing there was well over a decade gap since last we'd spoken; immersing myself in the Eric Hölljes's Too Late Concert Special (and truly understanding that, eventually, it is too late). Maybe this is how a mid-life crisis looks. I already added the running to my repertoire, so why not? But the best I can do with this, in the calm before the chaos (if all goes to plan) of parenthood, is to reach out and hold tighter to the people who really matter. So this summer, while we're still free to be a couple with only furbabies to worry over, Nico and I have planned a grand reunion tour for folks around the US to whom we owe a visit. Stop #1: Melissa & Brendan and Ryan & Megan down in Los Angeles.
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| A very happy Fourth of July down in LA with wonderful people. |
It's wonderful to travel and not be a tourist. We weren't rushed to see or do anything. For the weekend, we were just present. We enjoyed our people: seeing and hearing about their lives, their latest projects, their hopes and worries. It's amazing to have folks with whom you can grow in parallel, where reconnecting doesn't feel like a lift. Living on opposite ends of a massive state (after having spent a decade on different continents) doesn't make it any less cozy than when you lived two floors apart. I struggle a lot with the concept of family. It can be hard for me to accept that mine isn't bound by blood. It scares me that the people with whom I most want to share life's milestones aren't the ones I can count on seeing around a dining table every year come Christmas. I hope we keep on putting in the miles to maintain these bonds. I hope my chosen family thinks of me that way too.
While it town, we enjoyed some local highlights: we hit up Grauman's Egyptian Theater, Canter's Deli, and Van Leewen ice cream; we kayaked; we sampled more beer than an average weekend. We took it easy: we hung out in Compton and watched illegal fireworks; we cuddled other people's pets; I ran a different set of hills; I lounged on a couch other than my own while sipping from someone else's looseleaf tea collection and reading my latest novel. And it felt like home.
