The "bouncing back" skipped a generation

      We breathed a sigh of relief when our last kid, Mike, left home and didn't come back.  That was some time ago, and all five young'uns are on their own, married to really good spouses, and we're not paying any cell phone bills or car insurance for anyone but our own selfish selves.  

      Plus, we don't even have a basement that anyone could live in and play video games all day if they wanted to.

    So, we thought we were over all of that.  However, we now have a grandkid living with us, and it's been a lot of fun.  

    Sophia is eighteen years old, and has received her assignment to serve a mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and she begins on September 16.  However, the fact that her family is living in Tajikistan (thanks to the State Department) has complicated things a bit.  For instance, her family is basically The Church in that country, so she was interviewed and all arrangements made remotely.  She's been called to the Washington DC South Mission.  

    She said, "That's great!  For me, that's a foreign mission, but they speak English, and there's Target!"  Sophie also speaks some Russian, so who knows where that may lead.

    Opportunities to work in Dushanbe (the capital of Tajikistan) are almost nonexistent for an expat, so she came here with her sixteen-year-old brother Edwin in mid-May.  She's been working as a lifeguard at local pools, 

as well as serving at the local Ben & Jerry's and babysitting.  

Sophie has been working up to 60 hours a week, and I have been impressed as she has tracked down work and been responsible.

    We've been trying to help.  For instance, I took her passport picture.  "No, Sophie!  You need to look more bland!  You need to remove every thought!"  She did great.  According to the picture, the brain switch was "Off."

    As noted in a previous post, while she has been here, she earned her North Carolina (and therefore U.S.) driver's license.

 

    Sophia has always been a joy.  It's against the rules to have favorite grandchildren, but...

 

    And she has yet to start playing video games in the basement.  As if she played video games.  Or as if we had a basement.  

 

    We will really miss having her around.  That, and we'll miss what she brings home from Ben & Jerry's.

Dave & Paula 

 

PS:  She actually helped several Uzbeks the other day at the ice cream place.  In Russian!