So the other night I went to a wine tasting at The Wine Steward here in our town of Pleasanton along with Gordon and our newly 21 year old daughter, Natalie. It was Natalie's first Wine Steward tasting which consists of 12 to 14 tables of different wine vendors pouring at least 3 or 4 wines each, both whites and reds. Obviously you don't try to taste all wines at all tables though historically Gordon and I have given it a good shot!!! It's a really good way for a young taster to learn about wines; the pleasure of wines; which wine to pour with what course, etc. Is there anything inherently wrong with that? Unless you are a strict Baptist or perhaps Mormon or ........what ? unhappy human? I don't see anything wrong with learning about wines. They make us happy and life more.....fulfilling? Wine = happy. Maybe I'm wrong....I'm ready to stand corrected so offer up your best argument please.
Anyway, we joined into the group tasting and talking to the people who generously poured and those that generously enjoyed tasting. Generally speaking a very happy time. Could there be a better industry to work in? I just can't figure it.
So I happened upon a woman that I knew I knew but hadn't seen in a very long time. She looked different. Possibly she had aged. Haven't I? Of course! I could tell she recognized me.....sort of. Does she notice a difference in me? Who is this person? Hmmmmmm.
Taste, taste, taste. Hmmmmmm. I know this woman.
Toward the end of our 15 tables of tasting.....by the way, we decided to taste only whites with the occasional red...okay or two.....I figured out who this woman was and when the last time I had seen her. At a Wine Steward tasting at least two years ago. She is the mother of a girl our oldest daughter, Jillian, had graduated with. Her lovely daughter, Jessica, was a cheerleader at the girls high school; very popular, beautiful, outgoing, entered a good university; tons of friends; totally promising future.
So, "Hi! How are you (can't remember her name)? Oh my gosh so good to see you. Yeah, you remember me our daughter was Jillian.....No this is her sister Natalie. How is your daughter Jessica right?" Jessica is apparently good. She has stopped dating her newish boyfriend her parents didn't like and is back with her old boyfriend who her parents DO like and is living back at home. Yeah. So happy. Wow. Alrighty. Apparently dating is important and she spoke at length about Jessica's dating highlights with the old and new-old boyfriend. Oh and after much talk of boyfriends I finally found out that Jessica is a cheer leading coach at the local middle school and is also free-lance coaching children for cheer leading too making $35/per half hour of tutoring. She also indicated that she would rather her daughter work and live at home than be one of these girls that needs to marry for money. What? What? Is that even supposed to be a part of logical thinking? Really? Did I mention that her daughter is almost 25?
Really?
Is there anything that strikes you as strange about that conversation? And, okay.....how about asking about my daughter? Living and working on her editing career in Manhattan.
Alright so I'm bitching. I don't get these mothers who are only interested in who of the opposite sex is interested in their son/daughter like that is the only thing important in life. Is that the only thing important in life? I don't think so. I think these people are living through their children. Obsessing about who they could have been if only they were more athletic; beautiful; popular........In this day and age these parents actually still hang onto their own old ideals and perhaps promote these ideas in their own children. Do they feel more important? potent? successful as parents based on who their child dates? I don't know. Every parent has a right to be proud of their child no matter what they do. My ideals are just different. I know that statement is true for all parents. Judge, judge. Stop it Sharon.
Natalie went to New York last week to "hang out" with her big sister and enjoy the pleasures of Manhattan in the Spring. Living large and happily enjoying the success of completing her junior year of college with good grades and living on her own with two female roommates; yes, she has a nice boyfriend, who her parents like mind you, but who she could live without; enjoying her girlfriends AND her family. While in New York, Natalie spent time observing life in Central Park; an afternoon at the Met; strolling the streets and shops of Soho where Jillian works; The Empire Hotel for drinks; Sleep No More (which everyone should check out....it looks fascinating), and generally being a New Yorker in the rain.
This week we are in Southern Cal......Natty participating in an Animation Workshop (or bootcamp) for the week. Me hanging out in Laguna Beach with an old friend, Howard, and then a visit with my former husband, Jim. Anyway, Natalie is enjoying an exciting summer doing interesting things.
Alison departed California today to move to Manhattan and room-up with her sister, Jillian, on the Upper West Side and attend Hunter College beginning in late August switching majors from Environmental Science to Film. This is a huge transition for Alison but one we definitely think she is ready for. The girls got a lot of confidence. She actually reminds me of, well, me! Sometimes you just have to break-away from the old and venture into the new. She's doin' it!! I have a trip planned the beginning of August to go see both girls and spend a little time with them.
So each of our daughters is off on their life adventure. Seeking fame and fortune but most of all contentedness and happiness with who they are. Gordon and I have always wanted our girls to work on themselves; their careers and the joys and adventures of travel....though they haven't been able to do too much of that throughout their college careers. I want more for my children than a nice boyfriend. I want them to have successful, happy careers that last a lifetime. A reason to wake up each morning and be excited about each and every day. A way to support themselves and their own I N D E P E N D E N C E !
Hopefully Jessica is excited too - coaching and encouraging young women toward their dreams. Big or small. We all need a coach who believes in us. We all need a career which enhances our lives. Even those of us who simply ended up being moms. Just moms. Which can be the most exciting career on earth right?
Certainly it was(is) challenging......now where's my glass of red? oh, and that sea-salt chocolate bar?
