From Generation to Generation

Most of us can easily see the imprint of our mothers in our day-to-day lives. It’s inescapable that we will carry on many of their traits, even some of the ones we scorned as children. But just recently I’m coming to see myself in my daughter and getting a real kick out of getting to know her as an adult.

She surprised us with a visit this week, a free trip on Alaska Air earned by being bumped. She is in between jobs, having left the sinking ship of a start-up venture to work at UCSF. She will be doing the psychological interviews and follow-up in a study on lupus, at least initially. The job sounds like a much better fit with her bio-psych background.

My daughter has become a GREAT cook. I found it interesting that instead of a fashion magazine she had bought the latest issue of Gourmet in the airport. She swears by organic ingredients and loves to experiment with new things. She was quickly on board with homemade yogurt after sampling my latest batch. We cooked together last night. I made a garlicky tortellini tomato soup. She made Australian baramundi with lemon and shallots. My husband cleaned up.

Her tastes have broadened to include mushrooms, ginger, spinach, beans, and all sorts of things she would have turned up her nose at as a younger child. She was my finicky eater. She’s still not enamored with broccoli, asparagus, or eggplant, but I’ll bet in a couple of years they will be there too.

She’s such a smart shopper. We hit Loehmann’s together yesterday. She told me the one skirt I was about to buy from the “Backroom” at $100 was simply not worth the money. She bought a handful of tops and a sweater at a great discount to wear to the new job. Not much in SF requires suits and heels fortunately.

After our shopping expedition, she suggested we stop at G Street Fabrics to buy silk to make flax-lavender filled eyebags. Just the kind of thing I love to do, especially with someone else. I'm sure her friend back in SF will love using the handmade eyebag when she does yoga.

She is in a long-distance relationship with a boy who just started medical school in Grenada. They have decided not to see other people because that would simply diminish their relationship. She told me she could never understand polygamy. This boy, whom we have not yet met, shares her love of the environment and a natural lifestyle. They sound like a perfect couple, just separated by 3,000 miles unfortunately. But they are online multiple times each day.

She is so many things that I am not: an outstanding athlete, a talented artist, a person with dainty feet! But the imprint is definitely there. It’s so much fun to see your legacy right before your very eyes. I loved her as a little girl, but I love her even more as an adult!