My brother’s birthday just passed on May 8th and today is Mother’s Day.  I got off the phone with her an hour ago, and as she usually does, she made me “speak” to our black lab McKenzie over the intercom.  She said McKenzie’s tail was wagging upon hearing my voice, but there’s no way to confirm that.  At least Ras wasn’t there to laugh at me, like he usually does.

Happy Birthday “little” brother, and Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

This picture was taken at The Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC.  (I love my brother’s haircut and glasses!)

975 miles and 17 hours later, we made it safe and sound to sunny southern California.  We left at 6:15 am and my mom drove until 1:30 pm.  I took over at a gas station and continued the rest of the way until 11:00 pm.  When my dad died, my uncles made the same trip from California to Oregon in 14 hours!  We would have been here earlier, but there were a lot of rest stops and I refused to drive five miles faster than the speed limit.  Maybe I’m getting old, but over the years, I’ve become a lot more laid back.  Why speed and endanger yourself to get to your destination 10 minutes earlier?  I don’t even get annoyed in traffic jams anymore.  Why stress yourself out over things you can’t change?

(L) On the road in Oregon.  (R) McKenzie enjoys the view

The view on the open road.

 Still in Oregon.

(L) “Oregon thanks you. Come back soon.”  (R) “Welcome to California.”  Why, thank you.

It starts to look dry once we hit California.  I made a point to notice where the landscape stops looking like Oregon, and starts looking like California.  It’s somewhere near Yreka, where there are no more lush trees.

Mt. Shasta had some nice trees, though.

Above are typical snacks to keep me awake.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find ANY Icees.

Tonight we’ll be making the drive to Palm Springs to visit my aunt “Nicole” - one of my mom’s four sisters.  I heard plans of visiting a casino, buffets, and shopping.

Thanks to everyone who emailed and posted condolences for the death of my father - it really meant a lot. Unfortunately, I barely had any internet access at home and haven’t replied yet.

I arrived back home around 8 pm Sunday night, though my body was still thinking it was 4 am. I didn’t sleep at all during the 12 hour flight. Instead, I watched two Korean movies (200 Pound Beauty and Seducing Mr. Perfect), Night at The Museum, and Eragon. Yesterday was my first day back at work and everyone was really supportive and kind. Our co-workers covered classes for Raswan and I while we were away.

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My father died at the age of 53 due to circumstances that arose from having a stroke. It all came as a shock because this was a man that loved the outdoors, was active, and had just retired two weeks ago to spend most of his time fishing on the Oregon coast. He was actually in the process of buying a beach house there. He had worked hard all his life for our family, emigrating to the United States with $10 in his pocket. What saddens me the most about his death is that he never fully got his chance to relax and have time for himself - he was so busy providing for us. His life ended too soon.

In accordance with Laotian custom, we had a five day mourning period for him - two before the funeral, the funeral day, and two days after. My brother and two uncles were temporarily ordained as monks for the funeral. My father was cremated and his ashes scattered on the Oregon coast. May he rest in peace there.

I just wanted to share some pictures. These were taken two days ago at my (to make things simple) great uncle’s 70th birthday party. He’ll be retiring in two years from the US Army Corp of Engineers, rounding out 25 years there. We talked for a little bit early in the night. He wanted to make sure I had a “plan” for the next 5 or 10 years… which I do. Anyway, this is what a contemporary Laotian get-together looks like. It was interesting to observe the Lao and English being used here, especially after studying this exact thing at school this term. The older generation, of course, spoke Lao with one another. The younger generation, about 35 and under, spoke English. It was weird to think that practically none of the younger generation will be able to speak fluent Lao. This situation is true for a lot of minority groups. In a poll of Korean youth in New York, only 9% could speak fluent Korean.