"can you accompany me to Dr. Rick?" ,
that's our family doctor, an iridologist. She wanted a second opinion on earlier results from her OBGyn.
"Of course", I replied.
We made an earlier date for last Friday when she also took a leave from work but due to heavy rains, we opted to stay home.
Didn't I say earlier that when I have a chance to be with family, I drop everything and if I know about it ahead of time, I rearrange my schedule so I can be free? Well, not everybody can do that, but I can because I don't work for anyone. My children do the same, they take a leave whenever possible if we are visiting.
Reviewing my former blogs, I found that it is becoming some kind of a diary, mostly documenting the events in my life. I know that they maybe insignificant or of no interest to others, but to me that's all that really matters. I always want to spend time with family so I take every opportunity possible.
When we visited my 5-month-old grandson late last month, we extended our usual visit to another 5 days so we can spend more time with him. I almost didn't want to sleep; I just wanted to hold him, watch him sleep, or catch a happy moment by taking pictures. Being with him was reward enough but when he moves his hands or kicks his feet and gives a lop-sided smile, ohh, boy, what joy that brings! My husband and I almost didn't go out during the day as we usually do; except the times when our son or daughter asked us to lunch. I practically gave up my noonday nap as well.
Of course we couldn't pass up being with our son or our daughter whenever we have the chance, especially because we live thousands of miles apart. These are opportunities when they update us on what's going on with their lives, including their future plans. These are rare occasions that we treasure the most. I believe, they feel the same way too, since every time we go home and thank them for their time spent with us and how we enjoyed being with them, my son would always reply:
"I enjoyed our lunches as well, come visit us again soon".
Maybe that's how parents and grandparents feel towards their children and grandchildren; they always feel that their time is running out. I recall when my mama was widowed, she practically left our ancestral home and made the rounds of staying with one married child after another. We are five siblings, all married, and she had about 10 grandchildren around that time.
I remember, she just kept reading or spending time with grandchildren, playing card games with them; her favorite is gin rummy. I can't help but smile when I recall my son, nine at the time; in tears everytime he lost a round. I'm not sure whether he cried for losing a few centavos from his allowance or just because he was not a sport enough to accept it. Soon even my mama would cry, as well as his nanny who was always around watching them; but the game goes on.
After she passed away, I saw my mama's small planner and found that she divided her time among our families, she even had the dates listed with whose family she spent on specific days.
Back to my day with my older daughter.
Of course my husband drove us to the doctor's office, though we can drive ourselves; I think, he also wanted to be with us. I knew that he must also miss this daughter even though we see her weekly; every time we bring home our granddaughter after her day's visit with us; but these are brief encounters; nothing like sitting down to lunch.
"No pictures, Mom, especially on facebook", my daughter reminded me prior to lunch. "Remember, I'm on sick leave, I don't want to be seen having lunch out".
"Oh, but you went to the doctor, isn't that reason enough?", my husband put in. Anyway, we respected her request, so no pictures, even on this blog.
We went to one of our favored Italian restaurants, Bouna Vita. This is my granddaughter's favorite restaurant, she never gets tired of their pasta ala vongole. Though they serve authentic Italian food, the chef is versatile and whips up Spanish signature dishes as well.
It was almost 1 pm, I felt ravenous that I couldn't help myself from eating the assortment of breads with pesto and salsa dips. When our food was served, the head waiter approached us:
"How's everthing?", he asked.
"Good", I replied. "Actually we came here for your lengua,
(ox tongue)"
"I only eat lengua and roast lamb when I come here", my husband added.
My daughter ordered callos, another authentic Spanish dish.
During lunch, we caught up on the latest goings on in the family as well as those of our relatives. Over cafe latte, while my husband took his drink outside to have his nicotine shot, we exchanged new recipes, and some household tips we recently learned or read; we updated each other on the status of our new project: our pocket garden of herbs.
Another wonderful day, well spent; thank God for the opportunity.
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