Traveling with someone better

When I was in elementary school, my mother often took me to call on her elderly friend, Viola. Viola was no longer very mobile, but she was sociable. Every time we went over, someone else would be calling on her as well. This might have been because my mother never called Vi ahead of time, but Vi and her company always were glad to see my mother and her two daughters. People got a kick out of me and my sister.

I remember one time in particular, when one of Vi's guests took it upon herself to remind me, at age 10, that I always should "travel with someone better" than I. The point was to surround myself with people whom I admired and who would have a good influence on me. At the time I thought, well, that isn't going to work. If everyone tried to find someone "better," then nobody's going to go traveling; friends can't be mutually "better." Eventually I realized that it wasn't a net game, I just needed to find something worth emulating in my friends.

Since then I have been very fortunate always to have traveled with "better" people. This might be because, well, it's not that hard to be better than I, but I'll hope not. I'll hope instead that I have been blessed with many gifted, compassionate, intelligent friends, not the least of which is the Captain.

There is a downside, however. As you know, the Captain and I are both studying for the California bar. We are both, quite rightly, working very hard. But while I seem to be making little to no progress and freaking out, the Captain is flying through his practice questions and checking up on his fantasy baseball scores. His "better" is that he's...well, exceedingly better.

Harumph.