"Doin' pretty good..."

[thisnewday]

Stephanie lives in the corner house just down the street from us. She's a cousin of my wife's in the same way that so many others in the Syracuse Greek community claim to be cousins. Over the years, I've come to appreciate that it's a lot more interesting family tree than the old "So-and-so begat so-and-so begat so-and-so" that the rest of us grew up with.

Because behind every begat, in the Greek version of a family's history, is at least one story that had its beginning a couple of generations back at Ellis Island. Sometimes it's about a family name that an impatient official shortened or Anglicized or spelled phonetically. Or maybe it's about an unofficial adoption that took place because someone from the same village in the old country came through the gates alone and needed a family.

Anyway, cousin Stephanie coaches the Henninger women's soccer team and they practice on the field which is surrounded by the track where I walk. So we've said hello a couple of times and she knows that I'm walking to help my recovery from back surgery.

This morning, as I was walking up one of the side streets that leads to Sunnycrest Park where the stadium is located, I saw Stephanie walking toward me on her way home. As we passed, she smiled and said, "Hey, how you doin'?"

I answered, "Doin' pretty good. I can finally bend over far enough to put on my shoes!"

We both laughed and continued on our separate ways...