When we visited freshly-graduated Ryan as he is getting settled in a new city starting a career with Boeing, I saw myself after my college graduation, moving to Houston, starting my career at Shell.
Seeing his first apartment brought to mind my first apartment. Observing the pride he has in his brand new car, I saw myself 29 years ago so happy to have my first car.
What's more, here was Lexi preparing to start college life at Vanderbilt. My eyes saw Lexi, but my brain traveled back 33 years ago to my Freshman-at-UT self.
I just couldn't help but make comparisons, although I'm sure the kids weren't interested in my past, this was their shining moment. Still, walking around campus brought back memories of the blisters on my feet from my first days of campus trekking. I told Lexi she was lucky she did so much walking around in London and to the train station so at least she is in shape and her feet are used to it.
Finally, I can see myself in the new families at the American school here in England. That was me, fours years ago, scanning advertised lists of UK items that others moving back home were trying to get rid of. The feeling comes back to me of the haze I was in trying to figure out how things work in this new country. Now I'm on the more confident side of the mirror, happy to reach out to the newbies and wish them the best.
If I can carry my analogy a bit further, I'd like to think that my journalist dad, if he were still alive, would see himself in my blogging... in the special time-traveling mirror.
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