And I think Gibran went on to say something like don't try to make your children like you, try to be like them. Even more so, I guess that applies to grandchildren.
These young people who share some of my DNA are dazzling. They are all adult now, no babies or toddlers; they are their own selves, and so interesting! It has been such a pleasure to watch them interacting. Their humour is outrageous and stimulating and smart. I think Janice could be a stand-up comedienne. Her timing and delivery is quick, witty and so articulate. Her younger sister, Paige, is a writer, less generous with herself to me - and perhaps to others except a very few. Her self-assurance is based on confidence in her own abilities and knowledge and also on the need to prove herself. The "baby", Emily, whom I watched desperately trying to keep up with her siblings when she was a little girl, has matured into a lovely woman who pursues her own path but who willingly converges with her sisters when appropriate. And together they make a fearsome team, so in tune, it's uncanny.
I've told you about William before, my awesome writer, the oldest of his generation. He's a professional nerd now, by his own claim, and he shares the family humour (it comes from Bill, I'm sure, but some time I will tell you about my grandfather and my father and his brother). William is married to a writer, a website designer now, as I understand it, but my understanding is shaky where techie stuff is concerned. Danielle is very good for Wiiliam and they are very close. I have made mistakes with her, asking for understanding when that is what she wanted from me. So I am in her outer circle, allowed because I am William's grandmother. Civility helps us get through the awkward patches. William's sister, Meg, is the medical doctor in the group.
I think it's interesting that so many of us are doctors, but not all the same kind. My grandfather was a physician, and so was my father and his brother and then my brother, 3 GPs and a specialist. My son is a doctor with a doctorate in Quantum Math (physics). In a later generation it would be in computer science, some sort of cyber expertise. Meg has her MD and is working on her Pediatrics, specializing in epidemiology. And I sort of snuck in there. having been granted, for life's work, a D.Litt. by my alma mater, the University of Manitoba. I have a lovely gown and hat to show for it, red.
So we'll see where the trajectory of these arrows will take us. I'm still flying.