Summer in Minnesota

With summer here, we don't see much of our au pair Marcel anymore.  He's got a close group of friends, a new girlfriend, and just a few weeks left.  I chat with him for a few minutes in the morning as I hand the kids off to him for the day and Chris sees him at the end of the day, but by the time I get home, Marcel is already on his way out the door to the gym or to hang out with friends at the lake. We're left to communicate in the best way one can with a 23-year-old and that's through texting. I'll occasionally check in and let him know where we are or when we're going to be home and he respectfully does the same. 

One weekend with particularly gorgeous weather, we didn't see him between the end of his shift on Friday afternoon and until Monday morning when I headed out the door to work.  We had heard him, but he was like a ship passing in the night.  We had just settled into bed one of those nights when we heard our front door open and then the downstairs shower go on, and we'd know he was home, but for just long enough to clean up and head out again for the night. The next morning there was  no sign of him and we assumed he had slept at a friend's house.

I texted him later in the day to check whether he would be home for dinner.  He wouldn't, he replied.  He and his friends were still at the lake, enjoying the sunshine.  Then he texted again.  "To be honest, I love Minnesota.  I have never enjoyed summer so much. :)"

That text made me so proud of my state.  Not surprisingly, Marcel had never heard of Minnesota when we first interviewed him.  A lot of au pairs hold out for California, New York or maybe Florida while interviewing.  Or at least a state they've heard of.  But Marcel had taken the advice that the family is better than location to heart, even if he admitted to us later that he kept having to repeat "family over location" to himself while interviewing with us.  He kept an open mind though and agreed to make Minnesota his home for a year.

I am thrilled Marcel has discovered what makes this state tick and appreciates Minnesota for what it is.  Yes, we have cold winters, but that just means you'll appreciate those hot summers that much more.  Like the rest of the population, he spends as much time as he can outside, with his favorite location being anywhere lakeside.  He takes every opportunity he has to go water skiing and has used our grill to make an alfresco dinner more often than we have.  Although Minnesota isn't a hot tourist destination or doesn't have the California or New York cool factor, Marcel understands why people like to live here and why Chris and I are happy to raise our children here.