This is a surprising memorial day weekend for us. Kirsti and Amiya are travelling to visit Leta in Albany, Oregon while I make a prodigal return to Montreal after a four year gap. In a splendid bit of serendipity, Andy and Johnny Van Cet will be also be in Montreal for visits that map nicely with my own. Our usual haunt on St. Mathieu St. will probably be a no-go zone, but trips to Brossard are guaranteed. What are the hip new restaurants these days?
Somewhere around 34 years ago, in the middle of the steamy sprawl of Calcutta, a young woman gave birth to a baby boy. Undesirable traits in babies those days included dark skin and a female gender. My father’s mother is said to have looked upon the baby, in my mind’s eye a spasmodic ball of brown flesh in a bassinet behind a plate glass window, and remarked, “At least it’s a boy.”
A friend from a former life in SF, Jenny Mann, would always mark her birthday by celebrating her mother. “She’s the one who did all the work that day,” she would say.
Birthday booty includes a bowl of payesh, a t-shirt reminiscent of days bopping in front my my 1200’s, a box of legos that remain unpoened since last year and a year’s membership to Boeing’s Museum of Flight.
Amiya enjoyed his first birthday though it was a struggle to squeeze in all the festivities between naps. He practiced sharing his toys with the partygoers, helped his Baba open some presents, and sampled some paish (rice pudding) and a tiny cupcake.
Little Mr. D is currently practicing standing without help and cruising around the house hanging onto any available surface. He spends his days trying to turn on all the electronic equipment and using his middle finger of doom to spin the wheels on various toys and household objects. There are no discernable words in his vocabulary yet but he entertains us with his constant jabber. (more…)
One happy couple.
One beautiful city.
One wonderful apartment.
One million dollar homes.
One big move.
One big house.
One big belly.
One little baby.
One rainy winter.
One big surgery.
One little tooth.
One big year.