Passion Fruit

Katie, who lived for years on various forms of bread and cheese, is having the time of her life trying new foods in Australia. She reports that their salads are "not normal," their pizza is "different" and that she's intrigued by something called "custard apples."

Today she described eating a passion fruit as though she'd gone on an expedition to a distant planet. "It's hard to explain," she said. "But if you get past the fact that it looks gross and feels gross and slimy in your mouth, it's delicious."

What? "...get past...gross and slimy...."

Is this the same girl who no longer eats Caesar salads because she found out most of the dressings have anchovies, who for years would not touch anything that had ever touched a tomato, who could not abide avocados because they looked "squishy"?

True, tomatoes are now among her favorite foods and she got past the avocado phobia a year ago or so, but I'm still amazed.

I'm bracing myself for the flood of "It's hard to explain if you haven't...." and "You can't really understand...." when she gets back. My daughter has sailed into a world I've never seen, and I'm thrilled and proud. Once in a while, I feel just a tiny bit like an old toy tossed on a shelf, a relic from a dearly-loved past life.

Just a tiny bit, really. And only once in a while.