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January 2, 2001 |
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It's a new day. Pam and I just drove around a bit.
We were on the hunt for a souvenir for her… a memento for this trip.
We drove around the beaches to no avail. We had no luck finding something.
We walked a bit on Las Olas Boulevard and visited some of the shops. I
looked around a bit for sunglasses since I had managed to lose my pair of
Maui Jim's a few days ago. To tell you the truth, it's not so
much that they were expensive, it's more because I felt a bit foolish and
embarassed to have lost them. As for the souvenir for Pam, we never did find anything. Bummer.
Tonight Pam and I had dinner with my mom, Terry, John, and their two kids. The plan was to meet them at their place about 6pm.
Seeing my family was good. There's a fair amount of dysfunction that surround us like with any other family. Yes, I see myself as an adult, and yet I can't seem to understand how they manage to push my buttons. Maybe it's just that they were there when the buttons were installed… Maybe it's that they've seen you at your worst… Maybe it's that I left Miami nearly ten years ago and I regress whenever I come back. I don't pretend to know.
Along with visiting Terry, there's always the pleasure of seeing Michael. He is coming up on six now, and he is starting to outgrow being affectionate. He is a boy that has a lot of energy, mostly unfocused and playful, but occasionally he will surprise me. In some ways I can see parts of his mother in him, both the good and the bad. Maybe it's not fair for me to project expectations on him? Then again, when is that ever fair?
He seemed a bit curious about Pam, a bit apprehensive in some ways, but more curious than anything else. He didn't seem receptive to calling her Auntie in the Chinese tradition. Not that I really blame him, Aileen and Fred have been together since he was born; that hadn't occured to me at the time.
At very least, he read to Pam from his schoolbook. He was a bit surprised when he asked if she could read and she replied, "No".
Christopher, my newer nephew, is only about seven months old now. There's little I know about him since I have only seen him for a few hours at a time. He doesn't seem to be all that comfortable with me, which, I suppose, is understandable.
My mom and sister debated where to go for a while. Obviously, we wouldn't be able to go anywhere that required reservations, but that didn't really rule out many places in Florida. My mom is stil much more comfortable eating Chinese food (It's a rice thing… seriously.), so I suggested a Chinese place.
Dinner with my family was pleasant enough. Mom was simply delighted that I had a girlfriend, though I wondered a bit if she really had any problems with Pam being Caucasian and all. I know that sounds terrible, but there's certainly a cultural bias where I grew up. My mom is terrific when it comes to being open minded; she never ceases to amaze me.
We ended up ordering way too much food. It's not entirely uncommon when it comes from Chinese food. It is served family style, where the entreacute;es are shared among everyone. It becomes a little too easy to order a little of everything. The food was good, though not the kind of food left a lasting memory. It was one of the first times when I got to see the John and Terry parenting team in action.
As I watched Terry and Christopher together something came to mind…, a quote from the movie Parenthood in fact:
"By the third kid, you let them juggle knives…" - Karen BuckmanThe reason why this came to mind is that as I watched Christopher dining restlessly, he had a firm grasp on a knife. Granted, it was the ordinary round table knife, but nevertheless. Oh, and did I mention that the was waving it rather clumsily in the air? No?
As for John, I like what he does with his kids. He will typically quietly step out of the restaurant and play with them outside. At times I wonder what he does with them while he is out there. He'll occasionally come back with Michael on his shoulders, both of them exuding a quiet happiness. In those moments he reminds me a little of my father.
We ended up packing up an obscenely large portion of our dinner, and we agreed that Terry should take it with her. You see… I had plans for the remainder of the week, and Pam was flying back tomorrow… so there was really not much of a debate.
On the drive back, Michael asked Pam again whether or not she knew how to read, and this time she answered "yes". He picked up on the fact that she had answered differently before. I just didn't figure his memory would be quite that acute. Then again, many people claim that I have extraordinary memory, so maybe I shouldn't be so impressed.
That was the remainder of the day, with the possible exception of having temporarily misplaced my new phone (a Nokia 8260). I had clipped it to the visor while I was driving and had completely forgotten about it. The only problem was that I had forgotten to bring it into the house. I found it when I had gone back in the car and called my number. I know… silly little cell phone tricks.
January 2, 2001