It was a good time to get to know our future in laws. Howard and Bing invited us over for tea as they live close to the wedding site. It was interesting to hear about their conversion to Christianity and the influence they have had on their family and the numerous conversions. One of the topics that came up was on Asian culture. They are coming from a first generation Taiwan Chinese background, while we were trying to describe ourselves as more American Japanese vs Japanese, otherwise known these days a JA. that came up when we were trying to explain the thousand cranes as somehow being a cross over to being more of a JA tradition than Japanese. Tiff and Jeff are using cranes in their decorations. Just don't ask who is folding all those cranes.......
Lately I have been going through some sleepless nights. Last week I took Jordan to the airport for his trip to Paris, France. Since he just graduated from UCSD last month, we had anticipated that he would need to extend his health care by staying in school. This was in response to Jeff, my insurance cut him off within two weeks of his graduation. Since Jordan decided to apply to study abroad, Obama's health care plan went into effect where he gets covered until he is 25.
Gayle had figured Jordan would apply to the UC study abroad where they essentially take care of everything. They house you, set up the course work, and group you with other UC students. Well, Jordan decides to study one semester at Sciences Po, a French university with an emphasis on political science. This university provides little in life support, Jordan essentially shows up in France with his luggage in tow, little knowledge of French, a few euros and no where to stay. He has to find his way to the university from the airport and figure out temporary housing. I have not felt this helpless since Jeff went through his surgery. It started the moment I left him at LAX. I became one of those hovering parents tracking his flights to Paris. The problem was the flight tracking dropped off once the plane left the confines of the east coast. Hovering was replaced with a knot of anxiety, mine not Jordans.
On a positive note, we can follow Jordan through his adventures on his blog "Chance, Rants and Fancy Pants" http://jordaninfrance.wordpress.com/. Don't ask me about the title, but I discovered the neat comment feature on the blog. Everyday Gayle reads the blog and yells "I told you so Jordan!!!", goes to write a comment, then calms down. It has become her daily therapy.
Jared just turned 16. The significance of this event is not his growing up as a teenager (subject for other blog postings), or that he has two more years of high school, but that he continually reminds me that I am 40 years older than him. Read on......
My brother in law was recently admitted to the hospital for some work up. While there he was asked by the staff if I was his father. Not once, but twice, by two different people. Now, I know that my hair is grey and thinning (a Wada male trait, sorry guys) has made me look older, but I am only 6 years older than him. This has now become Gayle's favorite story. While I have never seen an entire episode of "Men of a Certain Age", the snippets I have seen ring true. You start dealing with aging parents, health issues such as cholesterol, colonoscopies, and high blood pressure. You start looking at long term care and essentially gambling that you will live to a ripe old age before your retirement funds run out. Being at the end of the baby boom does not increase my chances of any federal support being left. Gayle keeps reminding the boys that our retirement plan is...........them.
More changes to come, oh joy...........
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