Hannah Time

We all love our kids, why wouldn’t we? Hopefully, they represent the best we had to offer as parents. We can claim a bit of ownership to wash down with our dose of pride.

Hannah is visiting right now. I used to say that spending time with her was like being sealed in a jar with a beautiful hornet. Colorful and scary. But, to my surprise, she has changed a bit, focused her energy. She brought Pablo, I was eager to meet him. When I had asked Ruth about this guy that Hannah was making good sounds about, for the first time in her life, Ruth told me that he was” “kind of quiet, very smart, and sweet” That sounded good to me, and I was just glad that apparently Hannah hadn’t done a Black Widow thing and eaten his head after mating.

There is a phone call I particularly remember Hannah taking when she was about 14 or so. Some unwitting, innocent boy called to ask her out to a concert or an event of some kind. All I got was her side of the conversation, of course, but it didn’t allow for much feedback from the other end of the line. She said: “If I want to go to that fucking concert, or any fucking concert, I certainly don’t need anyone to “take me” anywhere. I can take myself.” Then she promptly hung up on the poor guy. For years she seemed to think that men are pond scum, and I couldn’t really disagree. I kind of thought: “So what’s your point?” Now, at age 29, she loves nesting, being back in the States for the first time in 8 years, living in San Diego, and having a great friend, lover, and base who is happy to take instructions from a bossy flier. 

As in their relationship, Pablo is her “base” in their Acroyoga practice, Hannah is the “bossy flier” and I wouldn’t expect anything less. Credentialed in many different forms of yoga, and Acroyoga which is a combination of yoga and acrobatics Hannah is passionate about her practice, spending many hours with it every day.   On Instagram., she offers insightful tips and lifestyle choices, along with, videos, and stills. Some 150,000 followers currently help her build her brand, but that number is growing by some 10,000/month. Savvy companies promote their products, in this case yoga and health stuff, by giving their products to Instagram personalities with a substantial following. All her yoga gear and most of her clothing is free, sent to her with the hope that she will plug it if she likes it. Hannah has started to push the numbers, recognizing the fact that higher numbers mean bigger rewards. Three days ago one of her videos went viral in Russia of all palaces, enhanced with Russian subtitles and racking up at last count, well over a million views.

I’m impressed, but you know what? I all of us that are parents or grandparents, are impressed by the kids, that’s just the way it works. Oh, and when they are grown and come for a visit, we shut out almost everything else in our world and focus on them with an intensity and clarity that very likely escaped us when they were young.

I’m so happy to have some Hannah time. I know you understand.