Father-daughter time

With all the focus lately on our two boys -- one celebrating his birthday this weekend and the other a couple thousand miles away with the Army in rural Georgia -- it was nice to start the weekend over breakfast with Simone. (The photo is from 2005, her senior year of college.)

Funny thing...when I ventured into the kitchen this morning and looked out the window, the first thing I saw was a baseball-cap-wearing dad and his middle-school age daughter, wearing a hoodie and skipping alongside him on the sidewalk, no doubt headed to the neighborhood park. I took it as a good omen.

As much as Lori and I love our two boys -- gregarious Nathan and unflappable Jordan -- I've always valued my relationship with our only daughter, partly because I too am a middle child (wedged between two sisters) and partly because I think we share the same sensibilities and values.

While Simone (French for "she who listens") is more emotive and w-a-a-y more artistic than me, I think we have a similar worldview about politics, race, class and privilege, as well as a shared appreciation for certain authors (Jumpha Lahiri), movies ("The Wrestler") and music (Sarah McLachlan).

Of all of us in the family, Simone has traveled to the most farflung places (Cuba, Brazil, Australia, England, Scotland, Wales, Mexico) -- some of it with high school choirs and some of it due to her own intellectual pursuits (a semester abroad at the University of Havana, a post-graduate Fulbright Fellowship in Oaxaca, Mexico). Fair to say, too, she sets high standards for herself, whether it's preparing a dish from scratch, going the extra mile at work (she's a counselor working with youth at five alternative high schools) or thinking about career.

From the moment we sat down in a booth at Junior's Cafe, just south of Hawthorne, we eased into conversation that covered:

Literature. I'm reading "2666," the five-part, 900-page novel by Chilean author Roberto Bolaño, which she gave to me for my last birthday.
Film. She thought Mickey Rourke was fabulous in "The Wrestler" and gave the movie two thumbs up.
Career. She's applied for a summer job with a nonprofit that serves immigrants. After mulling graduate school in some aspect of public policy, she's seriously considering law school instead.
Music. A Grant High alumni choir group is just getting started. Their first get-together was Wednesday and doesn't conflict with the Tuesday practices of the other community choir she sings with.
Her brothers. She recounted a dream about Jordan, talking of his military experience, and brought along a cookbook, as she's planning to bake a cake for Nathan's birthday party tonight.

It's been wonderful to see Simone develop into the well-rounded young woman she is. Because she works full time and lives with her partner in North Portland, I don't see her as frequently as before, so today was a lovely way to spend an hour. Another one for the father-daughter memory bank.