(and not stolen passports)
Riding the tube alone and like a local
Standing outside Virgina Woolf's London home and hearing the quiet in Gordon Square
Being a family member at a wedding for the first time
Talking about music with Sim (especially Dylan)
Receiving a private tour of the London Library
Singing "Hey, Jude" en masse at Kielan and Kate's wedding and trying desperately not to cry; thinking about the rare joy of being together as a family (minus my mum)
Watching the wedding's dance floor with Ralph in comfortable silence
Talking medicine and literature with Kate and Kielan
Holding Kalila and Zorya's hands
Touching Eliot's memorial in the Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey ("The communication of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living")
Talking Shakespeare with Ralph
Receiving a replacement sac magique (I "fried" one recently) from the thoughtful Kate
Hearing Sim talk to Kalila and Zorya about their Great-Uncle David (that's my dad... weird, huh?)
Hearing Kielan and Kate pronounce themselves husband and wife
Using the descriptor, "our grandfather," for the first time
Speaking French with a Rwandan wedding guest
Spending a normal, average (and unexpected!) evening with Kielan and Kate
Telling the boys not to stay out drinking too late
Sharing Missuk's Snow Geese with Kalila and Zorya
Marveling at uncanny genetic coincidences: a shared love of dal, a shared dislike of Chinese food, a common commitment to learning and exploring, my grandfather's devilish grin appearing *exactly* on my uncle Ralph's face as he played with his grand-daughters, Kalila and Zorya
Seeing Beatles lyrics written on envelopes and Julian Lennon's birthday card, seeing Austen's writing desk, seeing Plath's notebooks
Seeing Kalila in a Canadian Olympics t-shirt
Making friends with the security guards at Canada House
Teaching Kalila and Zorya to navigate photos of snow and Canada on an iPod Touch
Walking Oxford as a family
Feeling so utterly at home away from home
Riding the tube alone and like a local
Standing outside Virgina Woolf's London home and hearing the quiet in Gordon Square
Being a family member at a wedding for the first time
Talking about music with Sim (especially Dylan)
Receiving a private tour of the London Library
Singing "Hey, Jude" en masse at Kielan and Kate's wedding and trying desperately not to cry; thinking about the rare joy of being together as a family (minus my mum)
Watching the wedding's dance floor with Ralph in comfortable silence
Talking medicine and literature with Kate and Kielan
Holding Kalila and Zorya's hands
Touching Eliot's memorial in the Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey ("The communication of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living")
Talking Shakespeare with Ralph
Receiving a replacement sac magique (I "fried" one recently) from the thoughtful Kate
Hearing Sim talk to Kalila and Zorya about their Great-Uncle David (that's my dad... weird, huh?)
Hearing Kielan and Kate pronounce themselves husband and wife
Using the descriptor, "our grandfather," for the first time
Speaking French with a Rwandan wedding guest
Spending a normal, average (and unexpected!) evening with Kielan and Kate
Telling the boys not to stay out drinking too late
Sharing Missuk's Snow Geese with Kalila and Zorya
Marveling at uncanny genetic coincidences: a shared love of dal, a shared dislike of Chinese food, a common commitment to learning and exploring, my grandfather's devilish grin appearing *exactly* on my uncle Ralph's face as he played with his grand-daughters, Kalila and Zorya
Seeing Beatles lyrics written on envelopes and Julian Lennon's birthday card, seeing Austen's writing desk, seeing Plath's notebooks
Seeing Kalila in a Canadian Olympics t-shirt
Making friends with the security guards at Canada House
Teaching Kalila and Zorya to navigate photos of snow and Canada on an iPod Touch
Walking Oxford as a family
Feeling so utterly at home away from home
Wow, Alex! That's so beautiful. LB
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