Firsts

Here are the results of the November 2005 Trivia game-14 players played during the month. (Let me know if there are any topics to the Trivia game that you'd like me to put in there.)

1. chinbad (87 points, 11 wins)
2. spamtastic (76 points, 6 wins)
3. ninalabru (67 points, 4 wins)
4. Jamanda (66 points, 4 wins)
5. bennyboy (42 points, 1 wins)
6. Lyssa (27 points, 0 wins)
7. wareagle (14 points, 2 wins)
8. El nemesis (14 points, 2 wins)
9. Nola (11 points, 0 wins)
10. bennyboy2 (6 points, 0 wins)

Tuesday night Jess and I went over to our new apartment building mate, Rana's apartment for a late dinner and we got to talking about some of the upcoming plans for the year. Among those plans is a trip to England/Paris/Scotland/Wales with our little brother, Jonathan, in the spring. It being his first international trip and really first BIG trip without our Mom and Dad, it should be quite an experience for him.

That started me off reminiscing about the first time I went on a trip without parental supervision. Granted on some of it I made stupid typical decisions for someone just "set free"-in a manner of speaking- but the whole experience opened my eyes. I realized that I was capable, first, of actually making decisions on my own, but also that it wasn't as scary as I had thought it would be to be on your own.

Of course I'm sure my parents had quite another feeling upon letting their little 17 year old fly on an airplane OVER THE OCEAN to a country where beer flowed like water. I can only try to sympathize with the nerves that kept them wondering if I had been kidnapped by IRA extremists toting kegs of Guinness.

Nonetheless that trip across the sea just set the pace for many other eye-opening experiences and exposure to new people and new ideas...and sometimes just a new way of looking at old things. And while I don't suppose that every excursion, international or domestic, will always have the same impact on my life as that very first one, I will always expect to come away with a little more appreciation for the life I live, the worldwide brotherhood, the freedom to go on trips, and the sheer abundance of variety we that have the opportunity to explore. How could you not be curious to investigate things when there is so much to see and it's available to you?

I hope, Jonathan, that it's as memorable to you and mine was to me.