My niece Abigail lived in the North East in close proximation to us for the last ten years. She recently moved to downtown Cleveland. We miss her terribly, but know she will do amazing things in our mutual hometown. Cleveland is about to get a whole dose of healthy inspiration from our girl and we couldn’t be more proud.
On her most recent visit to us in Montauk it became VERY apparent to me that a seismic shift had occurred in our transactional relationship. By transactional I mean give and take and what we are exchanging is life lessons. For the first five years or so I was firmly in the driver’s seat as the teacher. I taught her how to set a table. How to be a good guest. How to compete in triathlons. How to entertain and throw fun thematic parties. I am guessing we influenced her on some child rearing techniques that she may employ one day. I brought her to her first Broadway show (and many there after) and fanned the fire of her already innate love for dogs and exercise.
Over the course of the latter part of this decade, Abigail has gradually taken over the role of teacher. This subtle shift coincided with the first year she beat me at our annual triathlon competition in Montauk – hmm interesting.
The teacher – me – is now happily the student learning from the very person I taught for so many years. Abigail is giving back and how. I knew there was a reason we invested so much time in her! 🙂
Now when she tells me something, I listen and take note. She told me about The Skimm (check it out if you don’t already have this nifty and witty cliff note news service arriving in your inbox every day). Thanks to her I regularly don rented clothing (Rent the Runway). She clued me in about instagram (years ago) and we still can talk for hours about insta algorithms, photos, blogging, and branding. She can answer any nutritional question I have with confidence and authority. My fridge is stocked with food that she recommends and I try to not eat between 9pm and 11am because Abigail told me to (intermittent fasting).
I love this and am grateful for each and every lesson she bestows. So much so that I am going to have a series of posts on what I’ve learned from Abigail. So you can benefit too! Thanks Abigail – keep the lessons coming. We are listening!
P.S. Abigail… You’re influencing the youngers too. Found Margaux in the kitchen making oat milk this morning – she loves it! When Colin entered the kitchen she looked up and said “Colin would you like this healthy nut free alternative to milk?” It was like having Abigail right here in the kitchen with us. I wonder what Margaux will teach us some day!?? #abigailintraining
For more of Abigail you can visit her website or follow her on insta @spoonfulofabby. Stay tuned for some Abigail influenced posts here at grabyourgroupandgo or what we should call for the next couple of weeks – grab your niece and learn. 🙂
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