Joys and Sorrows

Tuesday, Sept. 20 was a mix of 'this and that.'  I played the role of Domestic Goddess when I wasn't glued to the computer trying to catch up with e-mails. To think that as recently as 2005 we didn't even have a computer at home boggles my mind.  Now I have a so-called Smart phone too.  Once a new gadget enters our lives, there's no turning back.  We're more free and more tethered at the same time.

Well, Eric and Lynn managed to escape my frenetic domestic pace for a while, anyway. They went to Harry's office where they met one of his Chinese colleagues and then walked around campus a bit. When they got home we all dove into a dinner of ribs, corn-on-the-cob, broccoli, and finally  --  Eric's birthday cake: gingerbread that Lynn and I made from scratch.  We topped it off with vanilla ice cream into which I'd mashed finely ground crystallized ginger.  You can't have too much ginger!

Wednesday, Sept. 21 was rich with emotion.  I took Eric and Lynn to a lunch meeting of an organization I helped to create back in 1979, the Association of Women Professionals. I've always considered AWP to be my second child, so whenever Eric's in town I take him to one meeting.  In the past he's presented programs for the members; first on what it was like to live in Egypt, and later on what it's like to live in China. I think I'm the only member who brings her son to AWP every few years, but he doesn't seem to mind a bit, and there are women who love to see him and catch up on his doings.  Having Lynn there was a big thrill for me. As a representative of the youngest generation of professional women, she could join the group if she lived here.

That was the joyful part of today.  The sorrowful part was that after the lunch meeting we went to the funeral of one of Eric's friends from junior high and high school.  The young man, Chuck Puerifoy, age 32, died last Saturday of a heart attack after having spent a great day with his father at the Clemson-Auburn football game. How sobering it is to lose a contemporary to a heart attack when you're in your early 30s!  Several of the guys from Eric's class were there and as they'll come to experience again over time, it's sad that you only see old friends at funerals. 

From there we went on to a happier event, a trip to Whole Foods in Greenville.  Lynn bought some tea from the only tea farm in the U.S., the Charleston Tea Company. We'd taken some to China last winter, and apparently it was a big hit with Lynn's parents and friends.

Our basket loaded with goodies, we then drove into downtown Greenville to meet Harry for dinner at a Thai place, Lemon Grass.  Harry had been teaching an afternoon class in Greenville at a branch of Clemson University, the International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR), so it worked out nicely.  Lynn insisted on treating us to that meal. We tried to dissuade her, as she is young and needs to save her money, but she really wanted to do it, so we caved. Saving face is still very important to the Chinese (and everybody else).

Home now and ready for bed. It was a day of joys and sorrows, which pretty much describes life.  For us, mostly joys, for which we are very thankful.