Center of the Universe

Our youngest daughter called from Washington D.C. this morning at 7:00 am. Kimi, one of a group of about 40 PHS students, left last night on a long anticipated trip to attend the Presidential Inauguration.

Weather on the eastern side of the U.S. has been brutally cold the past couple of weeks. I've been checking the D.C. weather this past week to find lows in the single digit and highs reaching a balmy 29 F. Kimi had just about had it yesterday when I (for what must have seemed like the 1,000th time) reiterated that she had no idea how cold 14 degrees F. with wind actually felt like.

Kimi called for the first time this morning at 7am. They had arrived in D.C. after their 4-hour layover in Atlanta. She cheerfully reported, "The pilot said it was 11 degrees but it would be warming up, and it's sunny outside". She called again at noon - the group had stopped for lunch - to tell me, "Mom, it's freezing here! I have my gloves on and my hands are still cold!"

I had to say it, "I told you so."

This evening, Kimi called to let us know they had arrived at the hotel and were settling in. It had been an eventful day which included appearing on MSNBC, dinner out, and a play at the Kennedy Center. All that and the experience has just begun.

Before saying goodnight to Kimi this evening, Ken said something that really hadn't sunk in for me. After hearing Kimi's excited report on the details of her day, Ken said to her, "When you think about it, for the next few days you will be at the center of the universe."

So true, so true...