Dramatis Personae

Today, for some reason I don't particularly remember, I was showing the shelf full of language books to my parents. German, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, HTML, French... "Oh!" I exclaimed, taking out the "Review of Basic French" and handing it to my dad, "I was supposed to return this to you."

He seemed only barely to remember. "Oh yes," he said, "when did you borrow this?"

"I think it was my senior year of high school?"

Fortunately, my dad doesn't impose fines.

Here for your viewing pleasure is my family, photographed on the last evening of my parents' visit. They're getting on a plane unspeakably early tomorrow, so I need to have them at the airport by 5:30am. They offered to take a taxi, but that would have meant having to say goodbye tonight. I consider getting up before the crack of dawn a small price to pay for putting that off as long as possible.

But they'll be back next year!


L-R:
Eric, my teenaged son: Very artistic, and destined for great things
Beth: Disorganized, but usually friendly. Fond of cats
Anna, my newborn baby: Will never be a model despite great personal beauty, because she finds posing for pictures to be unutterably boring. A singularly strong-willed genius
Jim, my husband: A man of strong and well-thought-out opinions, who I really hope did not make this face for my parents' camera
Joyce, my stepmother: Without exaggeration, the kindest, warmest, sweetest, loveliest person you will ever meet as long as you live
Tosca, a singer: A passionate and volatile diva, who both took and gave life for her lover and her art
Katie, my teenaged daughter: Funny and smart, queen of all she surveys
Margie, my sister: A beautiful cellist and artiste, the member of the family most likely to get into a bar brawl
Duane, my dad: Unquestionably perfect in every possible way

Happy Birthday to my stepfather, who isn't here, but talks of retiring in Austin - soon, I hope! Here's to family! I love you all.