1973 Christmas

One blessing I have in my life is that I have three very kind older brothers. The eldest brother Tom is almost like a Father to me, even though he is not that older than I am.  Ever sinceI first came to the United States, I spent most of my Thanksgiving or Christmas with Tom's family.  In my effort of cleaning up the house, again I got distracted by some old pictures.  And the following three were taken in the Christmas of 1973.  Janice made the dress for herself and Margaret, and the bowties for Tom and Steven.  My appreciation of the "warmth" of a home is mostly connected to Tom's home.

Shan Shan's Kitchen

Shan Shan invited some classmates from the high school to her house after the 5 school annual picnic.  She prepared very nice cold noodles for us.  This really is a very pleasant and cohesive group, thanks to a number of quite considerate ladies who try to cultivate the friendship over the years.  Shan Shan and her husband Michael are very gracious host.  Shan Shan also asked Joan, Sony and me to stay over just so we do not have to drive all the way back to Baltimore from Virginia at night.  And she prepared a very nice breakfast for us too this morning.

Joshua is teething with his first tooth - 7 month old

I went to visit Elizabeth and Joshua on Friday afternoon, and later Dan came back from work and we visited a bit too.  Joshua is a very happy boy.  Elizabeth and Dan are two young happy parents all right.  I think Joshua and I developed a bit bonding during the visit.

An Old Picture

My basement has been a mess. Many boxes I brought back from the office were just sitting there taking up space.  It's time to clean-up somewhat.   But, I got distracted by the "old stuff" that brings back memories.  I found the following picture taken at a time when Edmund and I had our whole lives ahead of us, yet we had no idea of what we really want from life, or how our lives would turn out. (At least that's how I feel now that I am in my 60's).  Ed was serving in the army after graduation, and I was in my third yesr in college. We shared similar yet not completely the same experience growing up together.  The gender difference probably made us develop different perspectives. 

Now when we talk to each other, I found that we still have some similar view about life and relationship.   Painful experience in life helped us learn lessons and also helped us find peace. I guess our souls are under blessing somehow.

Playing Tourist Near Home

One could live in a place for a long while, but never visited certain places with a deep interest. I decided to spend some time to learn more about the area I live. If I were a tourist, I would want to learn as much as possible about Baltimre, Washington DC, Annapolis, etc. in a short and precious few days. So I asked Joan to go visit the Farmers Market at Fells Point with me yesterday. And Joan also invited WeiFang to come along. The three of us had a wonderful time wondering by the water front, had breakfast at Bon Fond (?)- it's bread smelled havenly, and had lunch at the Greek Town.

The follwing link posted some pictures I took during the walk:
You are invited to view Christina Huang's photo album: Playing Tourist in Fells Point 06112011