Dear Friends,
Today’s newsletter comes from two of my favorite writers: My wife Kate and my daughter Geneva. Both are writing about dropping off my son Truman off at Ithaca College.
First let’s hear from Kate:
We parents all know what’s coming. From the day we first look into our newborn’s eyes, we know our assignment. We are to spend 18 years – or 6570 days – nurturing, feeding, encouraging, teaching, watching, and loving our child. And then we let them go.
As we spend these long days of their childhood playing with, caring for, and doting on our kid, we are sometimes told by our elders that these years go fast. We acknowledge this truth in our heads, but our hearts sometimes can’t absorb that eventually childhood ends and kids launch. Our last 18 years with Truman passed by in a blink.
This push–pull of our hearts and minds looms above all that we do with our kids. We know that we parents are tasked with fostering our kids’ independence in every stage of development. It’s in our job description: we aim to do such a good job as parents that one day our children won’t need us. And when that day arrives, we step back as they step forward. This week I learned that the mama grief that comes with this transition is not any less or easier the second time around.
With long hugs and teary goodbyes, Geneva and I have dropped Truman off on the other side of the country in Ithaca, New York. He’s attending the Park School at Ithaca College, and we couldn’t feel more excited for him. Over the days we spent in Ithaca, Geneva and I commented to each other that Truman had found the perfect college fit. As they say, “Ithaca is gorges,” nestled in the natural beauty of the Finger Lakes in New York, with hills and trails and waterfalls everywhere (150 waterfalls within 10 miles!). Truman’s dorm room windows overlook the beautiful, hilly IC campus below and Cayuga Lake in the distance.
And so while I am feeling so sad to say goodbye, Truman’s confident smile as he walked away told me that he is ready. And while I am really gonna miss our boy, I couldn’t feel more proud of him and excited for all of his adventures ahead.
Have a great year, Truman — we love you! ❤️
Second, let’s hear from Geneva:
Having a sibling is pretty perfect. You get a built-in friend with a parallel sense of humor. You have your own language that nobody—not even your parents—can understand. One shared smirk across the dinner table can send you into conniptions. When you fight, it’s always with the knowledge that your friendship will survive—because it has to.
But for as much as you and your sibling have in common, the two of you are just as different. Maybe you are a homebody and he is a world traveler. Maybe you show your fears on your face while he buries his deep in his stomach. Maybe you are impulsive and excitable; he is reserved and thoughtful. Maybe you stumbled into your college years backwards and blindfolded—letting parents college-search on your behalf and committing to the first school you toured—while he meets his eagerly, finding the perfect campus to actualize his career ambitions and nourish his artistic spirit.
I say this not in self-deprecation or resentment, but in awe. At eighteen, Truman understands things I am still trying to figure out at twenty-six. His successes are his own, but his joy is my joy. Today I hugged him goodbye at @ithacacollege, and as I watched him walk away, it was with total confidence that he will thrive here. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Please plan to partake in the Pub Quiz festivities this evening at Sudwerk in Davis. Bring your team to the beautiful outdoor patio where the misters are misting and where we have room for almost everyone. The jollity will be unfiltered. As Ralph Waldo Emerson allegedly said, “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.” Tonight some will want to play indoors. I encourage you to come early to snag a table. We filled the restaurant and patio last week, and I expect that we will continue to do so throughout August and beyond. Also, tonight I plan to move the quiz along more quickly — I know that for many of us, it’s a school night!
In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on mountains, tech giants, football players, distribution rights, flavors, nights that are so hot that they hit you like a slap in the face, stages, PGA tours, justice systems, early sunrises, bone covers, rivers in the Midwest, Buddhist borders, bringing home the blues, sloths, polarization, birth states, kings, shots, explanations, things that you wouldn’t think could be fired, college towns, fictional hazelnuts, podcasts, people born in Ohio, pits of naive asps, card games, Japanese special effects, alternatives to French frisbees, viruses, big birds, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. Sometimes a question is substituted at the last minute because of the day’s news.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Thanks especially to new subscriber Sophie! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank, such as Janet. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the scintillating Mavens who carefully take note of casual adjectives and precise pronunciations, and others who support the Pub Quiz on Patreon (where I am also sometimes sharing drafts of poems). Thanks again to Toby. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of supporters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Here are three questions read by Toby last week:
- Mottos and Slogans. Sammy the Owl is the official mascot for the largest private research university in Houston, Texas, famous for its slogan: “Letters, Science, Art.” Name the university.
- Internet Culture. Which viral challenge, starting in 2014, saw participants dumping buckets of ice water on themselves to raise awareness for ALS?
- Newspaper Headlines. Authorities have directed citizens living in the Kursk region of what country to stop revealing personal information on dating apps?