Family, Family

What began as a rather uneventful day is finally drawing to a close. The occasion was a large family gathering—relatives visiting from the Far West had made their way to Germany, and everyone dutifully convened at a fairly unremarkable restaurant in a quiet village. I’ll be honest: without my cousin Dennis and his girlfriend Rebecca, the afternoon would have been a trial. I’m grateful for both of them.

On a brighter note, Japan delivered a convincing defeat to Greece—one of the more thrilling moments in my admittedly sporadic history of watching football. June 19, 2005, will also be remembered as the day I sat through nearly an entire Formula 1 race in Indianapolis, though not out of any particular love for the sport. The race had become a spectacle for all the wrong reasons—a tire crisis that left the grid almost empty. The commentators, to their credit, made the most of it.