My Parents' Parents

I had lunch with a friend from church a couple days ago. We served on the pastor nominating committee together for two years, and a friendship formed. Since he's retired and I have some free time right now, it made sense to grab a bite together and catch up. The time was well spent and I certainly enjoyed the company and the conversation. It's what you would consider a "cross-generational" friendship; he is more than twice my age. We obviously are in different stages of life, but it is those differences and experiences that make our friendship unique.

Our time over lunch reminded me of something related to this that's been on my mind recently -- my grandparents. I've lost each of them over the past three decades. Between the two sets, I knew my mother's parents better than I knew my dad's for a couple reasons. One, they lived near by our family, and second, my father's father (we called him "Yeh Yeh") passed away when I was five years old. But I knew each of them as well as a grandchild can know their grandparent I suppose. For that I am grateful.

Having said that, now that I'm older, I find myself wishing that they were still around so I could have gotten to know them better as an adult. I wish I could ask them the questions I didn't know to ask as a child. What it was like to grow up in China? What was it like to to have lived nearly a century ago? How did you two meet? What's been memorable about your life? Your biggest regret? What was my parent like? It's this that saddens me the most -- I have a million questions, and no possible way to get the answers to get to know them better. All that I have are the stories that are shared among family members, and the memories of childhood long ago.

I write this post not to dampen the mood, but as reminder to those of you out there who still have grandparents; if you haven't already, go and give them a call. Or a visit. And a hug. Maybe brew a pot of coffee and turn off the tv/computer/phone and chat for a while. My guess it will be well worth the time.

I would add more pics, but these were the only two I could find.

Two Weekends a Week

If you had two days each week for yourself, what would you do? Would you go hike a trail you've had your eye on all winter? Would you stay in bed and read until noon? Perhaps take a class or internship to learn something new?

As of two weeks ago, I've started living this very situation. The reason? Budget at work has been cut this year, which means less work for me. Less work for me means that I am working a part time schedule since I'm consultant/vendor, typically Tuesdays through Thursdays. And so far, it's been great.

Up until today, I've had activities for my days off. The first day was spent catching up on overdue home projects. Then last week, my roommate was on spring break, so he, his girlfriend, and I got to have not one, but TWO, Seattle days... The first was spent eating Philly cheesesteak, delivering lunch to B at work, and driving around the Mt. Baker and Genesse neighborhoods. Then on Friday, we enjoyed the deliciousness of Salumi sandwiches and then gazed upon the Seattle Photography Club exhibit at the Henry Art Gallery. Both these days, the sun was out, and we got a taste of Seattle spring. On a side note, B was very jealous of our field trips. I don't blame her.

But like I said earlier, today's the first day that I haven't had any formal plans set. So, being the Seattle-ite that I am, I'm kickin' it at a local Starbucks, watching the rain come down. I don't really know what to do with myself. I brought some reading material, I'm blogging (obviously), and surfing the web. It's almost like I have ADD, ACTIVITY deficit disorder (I know the "A" actually stands for attention).

I have been brainstorming a bit of what to do over the next few weeks. Here's the list so far... Hopefully I'll be able to combine some of them together too.

• Spend more time outdoors
• Shoot more photography and develop my post-production skills
• A related note-- decide on a new photography project to work on
• Be committed to writing once a week (I'm doubtful this will actually happen)
• Read

All in all, this is a wonderful thing really... I know that I'm living a charmed life. I also know I'm in the unique position here I can pursue things that interest me, without sacrificing time with B or work. I think the hardest aspect of this entire situation will be if and when I return to work full time. Will I be able to make the switch back?