I have Hanna playing in the background and the family is a room away preparing for a speech that the old one has to do. I’m in one part of the life I live–the one with the angry Otaku kid who spends his hours building a deeper understanding of the finer anime the way his mom studied literature in grad school. This is the other set of kids, similar in many ways to the first. They are spaced identically. The middle ones are athletically gifted. The young ones are angry. The first born are aloof and apart yet want to be there for everyone else. When the six are together the dynamic is interesting. Even after all these years they all are trying to find their place.
I’ve been thinking about childhood and appreciating being able to see the stages of such from 20 all the way down to 10 as I mark off each of the young. They each represent a different stage of that and will ultimately end up in very different places in life. I cannot say where they will be. I want to be there for them all and I want to help to put them in the best position to be successful. I am trying to learn what that means and what my role in that truly is.