Mom and Dad brought me to Grandma Arleen's and Grandpa Martin's apartment in the East Village last Monday for a dinner with them. This was the third time I've been there. The first time was when I was exactly one month old. We arrived there at exactly 9.05pm, the time I was born, and the visit was a nice surprise to them. The second time was about several weeks after that. They 'volunteered' to baby sit me so Mom and Dad could have a nice dinner out, just the two of them. They went to Alta, Mom's favorite tapas restaurant at the corner of 10th st. and 6th Ave, while I was enjoying my time playing with Arleen and Martin.
Arleen & Martin are very special to us. They are our family here in the US, and they love Mom and Dad as their own children. Papa Martin even insists that I loook like him :-)
Whenever someone asks what has brought us together - an American Jewish couple and an Indian/Vietnamese Catholic couple - we often smile and start with, 'It's a long story...' All I can say here is that when Mom and Dad met them for the first time back in 2002, through a connection with Uncle Peter - Dad's brother in Indonesia, the four of them immediately felt in love with one another. Dad often jokingly 'complains' that Arleen and Martin fell in love with Mom and since then Dad's role has been chauffeuring Mom to see them every now and then.
Since then they have been with us in all of our milestones as a family. They hosted Mom's and Dad's wedding in their weekend house in Long Island; they joined Mom and Dad to Vietnam soon after to attend their wedding in Vietnam; they were there in the Labor and Delivery room with Mom and Dad waiting for me to be born; they were the first ones in the family to hear me crying upon arrival; and they called Mom and Dad almost everyday in the first several weeks thereafter to make sure we were doing ok.
I feel very much at home whenever I'm with them. I'm looking forwards to this summer to visit their house in Long Island and play on the beach with Papa Martin, together with all his grandchildren and especially with Adam who was born just 3 months ahead of me. (Mom actually bought two sets of identical HBS body suits with matching socks - one for me and one for Adam. You can see my photo in it here.) By then my grandparents from India will also be here and I'll be the happiest baby on earth with four grandparents by my side!
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