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From Kara Berklich, Director of Communications:

On the other hand...

In my last letter, I spent some time reviewing my experience of playing "mother" to an 18-year-old whippersnapper at the beginning of the summer. Ah, the irony! Soon after complaining about playing a mother, I was myself quickly thrust into childhood again -- my own parents decided to spend their summer here in bucolic Williamstown.

Now, let's put this in perspective. I graduated from college a couple of years ago, and I've been living my own life ever since -- paying my bills, starting a career, the whole nine yards. Nonetheless, a sudden fear struck me -- would I turn into a screaming child again as soon as my Mom appeared on the scene? Could I maintain my typical sense of calm professionalism (yes, you do hear my co-workers laughing in the background) when my Dad stopped by the office to take me out for ice cream?

Well, it has been interesting. On the one hand, it's hard to feel like you're an adult when your parents want to take care of you. But with my parents, it's not like they want to infringe on my adulthood -- not by any means. Indeed, they count their blessings that I receive a paycheck each time I return from a marathon shopping adventure. All they really want is to be able to help when I need it, and have fun as friends -- adult, family friends -- the rest of the time.

Once I realized this, I could really chill out and simply enjoy our time together. I mean, as a kid, I didn't exactly spend a lot of time hanging out and drinking beers with Mom and Dad. But this summer, I convinced them to spend an evening or two at my favorite local dive, the Purple Pub -- and they even had fun doing it! True, I was as embarrassed as a 14-year-old when my Mom was trying to stalk Paul Newman all over Williamstown (he was here for the Williamstown Theater Festival), but she easily made up for it by feeding me more homemade dinners over the summer than I had consumed in all of the past two years.

Okay, so the kid/adult line continues to blur, but I'm trying to turn that into a personal advantage. You know, young at heart, that sort of thing. Maybe if I can keep it up, I'll be able to work for young upstart tech companies for many years to come -- and that would make me as happy as a kid in a candy store.

We'll talk again,

Kara Berklich (9/6/96)

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Read more "Letters from Tripod" in the archive.

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