Real talk

Blog friends... Thank you for your gentle check-ins! Nicole just talked to me about The God of Small Things for a couple of days. I do similar check-ins with At all the time.

What timing... Federal control of Washington D.C. with National Guards taking over mere hours after we returned home. The president's claims about rising crime and homicide are all false, BTW. 

Countdown to Nu leaving for college... NINE days!

Big A is on the mend... But I've thought that before. 

Pic: Huck's a real fan of brunch time conversations.

memories of new friends

On Saturday, I was happy to meet two online friends in person.

Steph who writes at AllForTheLoveOfYou playfully described how she sometimes thinks of blogger friends as "imaginary friends." But I met Steph in person in Takoma Park... we both exist! We got beverages and talked and talked about teaching, writing, kids, activism, and on and on. Steph seemed exactly how I imagined her from her writing--beautiful, wise, funny, and very serene underneath it all.

I also met the Steph who sometimes describes herself in the "comments" as "Subway Steph" because she sends me virtual Subways sandwiches when I'm having a bad day. Steph made me a two-page list of things to do in D.C., so I'm going to have to come back! I was so grateful and moved by the attention Steph gave to this task--for instance, in recommending Busboys and Poets, Steph said it was activist-y and that sounded like the sort of thing my family might be into. 

We met at Zaytinya the restaurant of Chef José Andrés (of World Central Kitchen) and later I took the fam to dinner at Yellow (also a Steph recommendation). People couldn't stop raving about the food. Big A said it was the best food he'd ever eaten. Steph is so young, and I'm a big believer in intergenerational friendships, so this whole interaction made me so happy. I love knowing people like her are looking out for the future of the world and people in need.  

Pic: My selfie skills are sucky, but Steph and I were all smiles.

A diamond

Although I didn't get to celebrate my MIL's 75th with her this weekend, I got to celebrate SD's diamond birthday with a houseful of her family and friends. SD is my lovely, and probably my first American, friend who has seen me through widowhood, single parenthood, and so much more, saving me over and over again. 

We disagree about some things right now, but she'll listen to my rant and heartbreak, and she always ends every conversation by reminding me that she loves me.

The party was huge, and I took a breath before I dove in. I know SD's kids and some of her friends but there were so many people there... but then no one can ever stay a stranger in a Jewish home, in my experience. It was the best time, and I got dropped back to my hotel well after midnight.

Pic: SD's son, who works at the Kennedy Center, made an animated video about her life that I loved. The likeness was remarkable. For comparison, SD is the one in the gold sari next to me in this photo. 

visiting Minè Okubo on the 80th anniversary of Nagasaki

My MIL turned 75 in January, and she was ecstatic to hear that there was a Minè Okubo retrospective at the Smithsonian because of the family connection.

That got us started planning a 75th birthday bash in D.C. Then MIL had a mini stroke and couldn't travel, At dropped out because of heartbreak, and Big A was very sick this week...

But some of us made it to this beautiful exhibition  on the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and it was a poignant reminder of how much the past is with us. Minè Okubo worked for the U.S. government and her brother was a member of the U.S. military, but she and the rest of her Japanese-American family were nevertheless forcibly incarcerated in internment camps after Pearl Harbor. 

(I've been feeling so insecure, I carried my passport along with my Real ID for travel this time.)

Pic: Nu, Big A, and Aunt R at the exhibition.

on our way/up, up and away

Big A rallied and we're on our way!

I'm so grateful for my kind blog friends who checked in on me because I haven't posted in a couple of days.

Pic: Clouds from the plane. I'll never take for granted how magical this view is.

snarl/ensnarled

Pic: Things are blooming in the garden, but also I wanted to document this giant spiderweb. It's mostly invisible, until you follow the threads from the right of the picture to the center.

Feeling very entangled in uncertainty and anxiety right now.
 

Urgent Care this Morning; E.R. in the evening

Big A seemed to be recovering fine yesterday and suddenly needed so much medical help today. I'm lowkey terrified about his health and way down on that scale of anxiety is the worry if we're going to make it to D.C., a short trip on which we've already spent a ton.