Bao and I were off on Thursday. We had a light lunch at Sahara Cafe in Sterling. After lunch we went to the print shop on Gallows to discuss the new menu board for my restaurant. We then stopped by Korean supermarket nearby to pick up some Korean xiaocai “韩国小菜 han2 guo2 xiao3 cai4″, fresh produce, fruits, jiaozi 饺子, guotie 锅贴 and red-bean pancake “红豆饼 hong2 dou4 bing3″.
On the way home, I called my parents and invited them to come over and have a 家常便饭 “jia1 chang2 bian4 fan4″ or an ordinary family dinner with us.
We hurried home because it was about 4:30 PM already. I started making dinner immediately and bao cleaned the house. In less than 2.5 hours, I made an eight-course dinner, picked up my car from Tysons’ Toyota and got the dinner started at 7:15 PM.
We had a 拼盘 “pin1 pan2″, meat balls with fried tofu and bamboo shoots, pan-fired chicken drum sticks, egg plant with ground chicken meat, pan-fried soy bean sprouts “清炒黄豆芽 qing1 chai3 huang2 dou4 ya2″, guotie 锅贴 and red-bean pancake “红豆饼 hong2 dou4 bing3″. They were nothing fancy but all 家常菜 ‘jia1 chang2 cai4″. We also shared a few shot glasses of 高粱酒 “gao1 liang2 jiu3″ or hard liquor made from Sorghum 高粱 because my dad likes it. I also made some chicken broth with frozen doufu “冻豆腐 dong4 dou1 fu3″ and Chinese Napa cabbage “大白菜 da4 bai2 cai4″. Unfortunately the doufu was bad.
We ate slowly and drank slowly. They were happy and enjoyed a few simple dishes they like to eat. They talked about life in general and commented that their old friends often envy their golden years together: healthy and with kids around them. they also commented that more than 1/2 of their college friends had passed away. But I am glad that they enjoy their life together and are satisfied with what they have.
However, they are getting older. We have noticed since a year ago that my dad couldn’t eat as much as he used to and my mom’s short term memory is getting worse in recent months. Since no one can escape death, it is only fitting to be content with their good health and be the 老伴 “lao3 ban4″ to each other at their ages.
Life is short. Enjoy it while you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment