jaysaint Getting it all down on paper…

I’m back in New York after three days of total disconnect, which were lovely. I was chatting with Sarah about her upcoming plans and she said, “…and then I’ll be in Connecticut for Sasha and Jesse’s graduation.” And because I have bad manners I said, “Ooooh, I’ll come too!!!!”

So I took Metro North to New Haven and spent three days with Sarah and the Greenspans that included getting to see S&J march and meeting many of their friends.

What a wonderful time. It must have shown because Sarah commented on how happy I seem. This was just after I’d done (I think) a very good imitation of these talking cats. My “Oh Don Piano” was particularly strong.

Allison and Joel, the girls’ parents and friends in their own right, proved once again to be generous beyond necessity. Once I got myself there I wasn’t able to pay for another thing. I’m 35, but it’s still lovely to feel looked after. I will have to think of a nice thank you to send to them, as well as graduation gifts for both the girls.

It’s always interesting to be on campus at a fancy private school, Wesleyan in this case. I went to the cheapest public school west of the Pecos, Northern Kentucky University, and it did well by me. But there was definitely a whole world in which I had no part. That of kids who take classes in things like Gamelan. There is plenty of spoiled rich-ness going on there. But either by benefit of education or cash or I-don’t-know-what I met tons of kids and most of them were more articulate and engaging than I am on anything other than my best day. Everywhere I was met with a look in the eye, a friendly handshake and sincere inquiries into my experience thus far. I don’t know how much they benefit academically, but it’s certainly a testament to the powerful social education of cloistered private schooling. And that worked out very well for me since I saw a lot of graduates this weekend and found them actually enjoyable.

My souvenir for the weekend is a sunburn on my chest featuring a big white circle provided by the shell necklace I was wearing. Who knew it was going to approach ninety degrees on graduation day?