COOL BY ASSOCIATION

Scenes I hope pop up as my life flashes before my eyes:

(thanks to Margaret Mason for the idea)

(in no particular order)

1. Meeting my nephew Jackson for the first time.

2. Rufus rolling around in dirt on the back porch on Old Albany Road.

3. Dancing with all of my favorite people at my wedding.

4. Driving around Cape Cod with my sister listening to the first 15 seconds of songs on her iPod; shopping with my sister for Brazilian treats that same weekend.

5. New Year’s Eve 2008, at the Brazilian Grill with my brother + sister.

6. Jumping on a trampoline with my neices and nephews, summer 2007.

7. Laying on the beach with Neale in Maine while reading John Updike and enjoying Coronas.

8. Every night spent roaming the streets of Portugal with Neale.

9. This random dance party I went to with Kristy.

10. Lunches with my brother during our “working together + carpooling” year.

11. The look on my mom’s face when I got off the plane from the Dominican Republic.

12. Every summer spent at my grandfather’s house in the pool, picking strawberries and just being a kid.

13. Getting my nose pierced for the first time.

14. Skinny dipping in a rushing river with Kristy + Grey.

15. Being on stage in my senior year of high school singing a solo from “HMS Pinafore.”

16. Driving around New York City with Erin + Patrick in college.

17. 7th grade, flashlight tag— first kiss.

18. That moment I saw Neale on the street in Amherst, handing out coupons for the record store. I knew it.

19. Quitting my last job; letting them know that I know I am worth so much more.

20. Summer 2002 with Ibby— nights spent driving around aimlessly, checking out bookstores and coffeeshops.

21. Dominican Republic, 2002- teaching Jeffrey English so he would be “OK” when he moved to New York.

22. Weekends in Burlington with my in-laws.

23. The bus from Hartford to New York the day after my wedding— the most terrifying ride of my life.

24. Riding bikes around the neighborhood with Kristin.

25. My brother announcing his wife’s pregnancy at a family gathering.