The Next Generation

We were sitting in the Oak Park and River Forest High School stadium, shivering because of an unseasonable cold snap, waiting for Amanda's name to be called, and thinking about Henry Adams' distress. It was the year of four high school graduations. Amanda, Jocee in Midland, Dave in Wooster, and Jen in Media. These young folks and their siblings, we were convinced, should reassure Adams that, at least in this "family," the theory of progress does hold up.

Without speaking ill of our elders--to the contrary, we're profoundly conscious of our indebtedness to them--we had always thought our generation represented an improvement. That cold night in Oak Park we saw the next generation coming of age and realized that, in so many ways, they were an improvement on us.

These pages are reserved for and dedicated to the next generation, or, more properly, the next generations. We are fiercely proud of them--as engaged members of their communities, as hard-working and effective practitioners of their crafts and professions, as smart and loving parents, as treasured friends.