October 3, 2002 - Page 2

A breath of fresh air from home came in the form of my parents last weekend as they met me in Paris to begin their own European adventure. This second Paris trip in as many weeks was great for me, as I needed the extra days to finish seeing the metropolis. My folks, in typical Southern fashion, overcame the obstacles of jet lag, illness, relentless street vendors, and Northern (European) aggression to have quite a good visit.

I felt quite immersed in Europe acting as their tour guide, and when it came time to send these two monolinguals on the train to Switzerland, it seemed as if I were sending my own kids off to their first day of school. This was a very strange role reversal for a 21 year old, and helped me realize how blessed my generation has been to have opportunities in education, travel, and culture that our parents never dreamed about. This sort of routine I hope will remain for some time, long after I am back in the US eating Cracker Barrel biscuits and watching Top Gun reruns.