cooing over small things

3/25/07
blog
cooing over small things

Bugga. I almost got a $600 travel voucher, but they ended up not needing to bump any passengers. So, now I am on board a 747 bound for Boston, smelling the guy next to me’s very sour feet. Five hours breathing through my mouth. GROSS.

As Bess said: planes, trains, and automobiles. After a reunion with one of my best friends from childhood, Ambur Rozok, in San Luis Obispo, I took a bus up to San Jose. Funny how almost everyone I mentioned that to exclaimed their derision for travel by bus. It actually was wonderful; no need to impose on anyone, four hour total, and $28. Can’t beat it. In Mountainview, Bess and I sat at a lovely sidewalk restaurant enjoying cocktails and tapas. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful cousin/friend? Later we picked up Miss Marley (pictured in Bess' side view mirror) and went over to visit Bruiser, Betty, Woody ( pictured, lined up at the front door, chez Wang) and Robert, Jill, Gary, and Ben. The beauty of the rolling hills with the slanted sun and her Midas touch left me with my mouth agape out the window like one of those puppy dogs. I really cannot decide which part of California that I visited this week was the prettiest. That’s lucky for me so that when I’m job-hunting after grad school, I have several super job markets to explore.

Mom and I had a full schedule of family visits. Our family is especially fertile these days – I got to see Sean Takeshi Kwok, 5 months (pictured), Jonas Chu Roodman, 4 months, Ethan & Talia Giannini, 5 and 3 years old, and the bulging tummy of six-month-pregnant Kena Fowler. It was a bit weird hanging out at the “kids’ table” at the Giannini’s BBQ because we’re all in our 20s and 30s and John Giannini was giving Joseph Fowler lots of soon-to-be-a-dad advice. He couldn’t fathom that we didn’t know what a “Pack and Play” was (it’s apparently an ill-named portable crib). One interesting thing he passed on to him (and to me, inadvertently) was “the only worthwhile thing [he] learned at pointless lamaze class”: the teacher chalked a circle on the board and described it as a symbol of a life lived to an average age. Then the teacher drew in a tiny pizza slice and announced that that amounted to the amount of time you really have with your kids, when they want to learn from you, when they need your love and attention. Such a small period of time in one’s lifetime. The message was to treasure that time, even when they cry at 2:00 am or when they’re cranky or rebelling. He said that parenthood is harder than you can imagine; it changes your life more than you can imagine; and however wonderful you think it will be- it’s greater. Sigh. I can’t wait. I’d have never thought of myself as one who oohs and aahs over small humans, but I can’t help it. Internal clocks, cultural time lines, increased exposure- I don’t care the reasons; I just can’t wait. =)

(Here are two pictures of two other cuties en mi vida: Ethan, 2, Andres' son; and Alaina, 1, Jamie's niece.)

So, I just made a list of all the folks I got to see on this trip. To "make" the list I couldn't have just met them this week. Anyway, I got to see SIXTY-EIGHT people who I haven't seen in anywhere from a few months to many years.

A thought to end this family & friends week and if anyone knows from whom I ripped this off, I’ll give you a nickel:

“What is a family? Is it just a genetic chain, parents and offspring, people like me? Or is it a social construct, an economic unit, optimal for child rearing and divisions of labor? Or is it something else entirely: a store of shared memories, say? An ambit of love? A reach across the void?”

(That's a pic of my 'gna-boo' (grandma) and me. We are cheers-ing our Ensure drinks.)