Love Is ~
Many wonderful things to many people....
Love is free and good and pure. Love is kind and fun and mesmerizing. Love is sharing and caring and doing. Love is giving and laughing and being.
Love is what happens every second the day, everyday! If you let it...
My mother came to visit us today in Westport. You must understand--it is not like she is a woman of leisure; she has responsibilities up to her ears. Leaving New York City AND my father for half a day is a BIG deal!
It wasn't always like this. Back In Saigon, my mother came and went. Between charity work, taking care of us kids, taking care of her own family, and being the wife of of the president and CEO of the largest shipping company in Viet Nam, she was quite the social butterfly. If you saw a green Peugeot 504 zipping around Saigon, you'd have to take a look to see who the beautiful woman driving around in it was. Most likely, you would have seen a woman in her late 20s ( a former Miss Saigon when she was 18), in a hurry, as she dashed back and forth from one orphanage to another. That was my mother's cause; she had a huge heart for the little children that would hover around her when she made her daily visits to bring them some treats or other, spend time with them and sewing clothes for them. And in between her missions, she would also be on the prowl for my father...the most famous playboy of them all!!!!! (oh my..this does warrant more details, but I will go into it later as I have to set up more perimeters..i promise!!)
Anyway, nowadays, she is so busy and so trapped in NYC..that a trip to visit her first-born is almost miraculous, and always overdued!!!!
I used to wonder, because my mother got so very little sleep, how was she able to function in the daytime? But she does and has been doing it for the past 31 years that we have been here in America. Life is different here; "harder" as my father would say, because we have had to adapt, to change in the way we live and the way we behave. I understand this all too well now - three children later- it is and has always been, a labor of love!
Before she came up to our home this morning, she went down (in all fairness, i should say she was driven) to Chinatown and bought all the necessities that she thought we needed ~ 5 pullets, 3 young hens (they make amazing stock), roast pig, roast duck, fresh vegetables, condiments and spices and special rice flour and turmeric, fresh egg noodles, three pounds of shrimp, and of course...money for the kids. "Here you go, "she said, "take them to Toys R Us"as she handed me the bills.
My mother arrived shortly before noon and proceeded straight to my kitchen island, unpacking the large white paper boxes that contained the roast pig and a whole roast duck, grabbed a little knife, and began hacking away- popping little pieces of savory meats into our mouths (my husband, Catherine and me)as she chopped and threw bones into a big pot to get her broth going for noodle soup. It was non-stop talking, eating, cooking, laughing, and listening to my mother dish out her advice-
To me - "Spend some time on your eyebrows, you need a better arch!"
To my husband - "Don't over work in the yard, I like it clean, but don't kill yourself!"
To Catherine - "Take your time and find the right man. Don't rush!"
My mother came and went..within three hours after her arrival, she hopped back in her car and headed back to the City..leaving behind many wonderful treats for our family to enjoy in the days to come.
She loves us so much and this was the best that she could have done..her pleasure was in seeing us, especially my little baby girl- hair growing a little more at each visit- and feeding us with foods that make us happy. In the end...this is what makes her happy and keeps her spirits high until the next time.
What makes you happy?
Catherine was happy tonight too. All she got was a phone call from her love and she was happy. He was at the airport waiting to board a plane. They spoke endlessly about all the whats, hows and ifs...they spoke as he boarded and until the steward person asked him to turn his phone off. As I make this entry, she is drifting off to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day (and I want to make a mark of it with this entry)
Sometimes life is complicated. Things are not as they seem or as they should be. But the one sure thing is that LOVE is easy! There is love and that is it! Love between people..family, friends..lovers...everything else is just details. Love is an emotion that is raw and unpasteurized...made to be consumed immediately.
Life, love, and food - the most special friendship of all; a lifetime to shape and behold. What else is there?
Love is free and good and pure. Love is kind and fun and mesmerizing. Love is sharing and caring and doing. Love is giving and laughing and being.
Love is what happens every second the day, everyday! If you let it...
My mother came to visit us today in Westport. You must understand--it is not like she is a woman of leisure; she has responsibilities up to her ears. Leaving New York City AND my father for half a day is a BIG deal!
It wasn't always like this. Back In Saigon, my mother came and went. Between charity work, taking care of us kids, taking care of her own family, and being the wife of of the president and CEO of the largest shipping company in Viet Nam, she was quite the social butterfly. If you saw a green Peugeot 504 zipping around Saigon, you'd have to take a look to see who the beautiful woman driving around in it was. Most likely, you would have seen a woman in her late 20s ( a former Miss Saigon when she was 18), in a hurry, as she dashed back and forth from one orphanage to another. That was my mother's cause; she had a huge heart for the little children that would hover around her when she made her daily visits to bring them some treats or other, spend time with them and sewing clothes for them. And in between her missions, she would also be on the prowl for my father...the most famous playboy of them all!!!!! (oh my..this does warrant more details, but I will go into it later as I have to set up more perimeters..i promise!!)
Anyway, nowadays, she is so busy and so trapped in NYC..that a trip to visit her first-born is almost miraculous, and always overdued!!!!
I used to wonder, because my mother got so very little sleep, how was she able to function in the daytime? But she does and has been doing it for the past 31 years that we have been here in America. Life is different here; "harder" as my father would say, because we have had to adapt, to change in the way we live and the way we behave. I understand this all too well now - three children later- it is and has always been, a labor of love!
Before she came up to our home this morning, she went down (in all fairness, i should say she was driven) to Chinatown and bought all the necessities that she thought we needed ~ 5 pullets, 3 young hens (they make amazing stock), roast pig, roast duck, fresh vegetables, condiments and spices and special rice flour and turmeric, fresh egg noodles, three pounds of shrimp, and of course...money for the kids. "Here you go, "she said, "take them to Toys R Us"as she handed me the bills.
My mother arrived shortly before noon and proceeded straight to my kitchen island, unpacking the large white paper boxes that contained the roast pig and a whole roast duck, grabbed a little knife, and began hacking away- popping little pieces of savory meats into our mouths (my husband, Catherine and me)as she chopped and threw bones into a big pot to get her broth going for noodle soup. It was non-stop talking, eating, cooking, laughing, and listening to my mother dish out her advice-
To me - "Spend some time on your eyebrows, you need a better arch!"
To my husband - "Don't over work in the yard, I like it clean, but don't kill yourself!"
To Catherine - "Take your time and find the right man. Don't rush!"
My mother came and went..within three hours after her arrival, she hopped back in her car and headed back to the City..leaving behind many wonderful treats for our family to enjoy in the days to come.
She loves us so much and this was the best that she could have done..her pleasure was in seeing us, especially my little baby girl- hair growing a little more at each visit- and feeding us with foods that make us happy. In the end...this is what makes her happy and keeps her spirits high until the next time.
What makes you happy?
Catherine was happy tonight too. All she got was a phone call from her love and she was happy. He was at the airport waiting to board a plane. They spoke endlessly about all the whats, hows and ifs...they spoke as he boarded and until the steward person asked him to turn his phone off. As I make this entry, she is drifting off to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day (and I want to make a mark of it with this entry)
Sometimes life is complicated. Things are not as they seem or as they should be. But the one sure thing is that LOVE is easy! There is love and that is it! Love between people..family, friends..lovers...everything else is just details. Love is an emotion that is raw and unpasteurized...made to be consumed immediately.
Life, love, and food - the most special friendship of all; a lifetime to shape and behold. What else is there?
posted by cream cheese dreams at 10:14 PM
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