Meeting Schuyler
I was excited that my trip to New York coincided with a visit there by my friend Rob Rummel-Hudson and his daughter Schuyler to meet with the publisher of their book. It’s definitely the only time I’ve been nervous about meeting someone under the age of eight.
I met Rob last December, also in New York (happily coincidental trips are our thing), after reading his online journal for almost a decade. I’d been reading when his wife, Julie, was pregnant with the baby they’d nicknamed The Grub; I’d been reading when Schuyler was born and graduated from Grub to Chub, and I’d been reading when Rob confessed that Schuyler wasn’t talking and that he and Julie had put some of the finest medical minds in the world on the case.
But I’d never met Rob’s daughter. I’d just admired her - her spirit, her determination, her cuteness, and how immeasurably she’d improved her father’s life - from afar.
All I can say is what I told Rob: I was beyond thrilled to meet Schuyler, who is even more beautiful, affectionate, funny, and engaging than I’d imagined.
What I didn’t tell Rob: He is an even better dad than I had suspected, which is saying a lot.
“I’m glad you’ve met her,” Rob told me as we parted ways. “It’s weird with friends who haven’t, because I don’t think you can really get me unless you know Schuyler. I don’t know if I make sense without her.”
Would that every child had such a devoted father - and that every father had such a gifted daughter.
Filed under: Life