Creature of Habit 4

Yes, it's been a while since my last post, but I have a very good excuse: I had to take my Dad to Costco to buy Charmin. As you may recall from a previous post, my Dad prefers the softness of Charmin to the sandpaper they call TP back in China. So each time he comes to Cali, I take him to Costco so he can stock up. Usually, he only buys one economy pack of Charmin, but this time, he bought two. TWO! I asked him why he decided to buy so much, and he just shrugged his shoulders. Hmmm. Maybe he's afraid that Procter & Gamble will be the next big business to go under, and he's trying to single-handedly keep them afloat. Either that, or maybe he's building a bomb shelter.

Of course, Charmin wasn't the real reason why my parents came to LA: the real reason was to see their beloved grandbaby Benjamin. I wish there was a way I could package Benjamin in pill form to give to my parents. When they first arrived at LAX, they were exhausted. My Dad looked bleary-eyed, and my Mom was complaining about her rheumatoid arthritis. The instant they laid eyes on the Boo, though, they perked right up. My Dad's eyes crinkled with laughter and my Mom started crawling around on the ground with Benjamin, her achy back momentarily forgotten. Of course, the next morning, she had a lot of trouble getting out of bed, but that didn't stop her from horsing around with Benjamin again. In fact, she took it a step further and decided to waltz around the house with him!

I guess that little giggle can make you forget any troubles you might have!

My mother's waltzing aside, another notable thing happened on this trip: Benjamin and my Dad bonded. It's not as though they were strangers before, but during this visit, it became clear that they were becoming very close pals. I had never seen my father smile as much as he did this past week. And as for Benjamin, he expressed a preference for hanging out with his Hao Gong over doing just about anything else, including eating!

My parents week with us seemed to fly by in the blink of an eye, and it was with a heavy heart that I kissed them goodbye at the airport. As the car pulled away from the curb, Benjamin burst into tears, and I found myself blinking a few back as well. It occurred to me that I should have snuck a few rolls from my Dad's Charmin stash into the car to wipe my eyes. Then again, maybe he'll need them all to wipe his own eyes until the next time he sees his little buddy.