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| November 19, 2012 |
Today's sky is full of promise; it might be promising a tornado, but we Hoosiers don't care. After 22 years I have been naturalized as a citizen of this state, even though in the town of Madison I still hear, "You're not from around here, are you?" That will never change. It's okay, Indiana, I've accepted your odd customs while becoming fond of your naive innocence. As long as you give me mornings like today, it's all good.
I arrived yesterday in the U-Crawl truck with my son and granddaughter. They joined the rest of his family in their new home at least two blocks from me. We now have a commune of Dad and me and four of our children's families in the neighborhood. I am proud and humbled that our kids like each other so much that they have chosen to borrow tools from each other for the next 40 years, and stop borrowing ours.
They have also chosen to give their children a precious gift: cousins. Siblings are great, but cousins are almost better. Unlike annoying siblings, you can choose the cousins that are your age, or that you really like, and you can get rid of them at the end of the day. You don't have to earn their friendship; it's built-in. You can tell a cousin she has bad hair, and she won't smack you upside the head like a sibling will. She'll help you fix it. Yesterday, I shot a short video of cousins playing a game called "Cups." Hearing their giggling reminded me of the joy of simple things, and the bond of cousins.
22 years ago we said goodbye to California and hello to Indiana. In September, we said goodby to another Grandma. Now when I see the gathering of our kids and their kids, it reveals a new sunrise as promising as the one I saw today. As we creep toward the inevitability of our best goodbye ever, there will be an even greater hello.
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