Fortunate

I have a compulsion of idealizing where I am not.

The last time I was home, in Hilo, it was such a nice experience that I can't shake the desire to be back.

I gossiped a bit with my parents, ate dinner, lounged around the couch traded a few words with my brother.

My dad even complimented us kids.

"Maybe I don't tell you this often enough," he said. "But I really am proud of you two. You're good kids."

Of course, this came after I finished gossiping about my best friend's sister, who at age 20, is pregnant out of wedlock to a guy she met six months before. This friend's father was so pissed when he found out he yelled at the sister AND the boyfriend: "You guys aren't even going to be together in two years! The best thing you can do is get rid of it! If you keep it, it will never be allowed in this house!"

He had a few choice names to call his daughter as well. Fortunately, his wife calmed him down and the family is now resigned to the new arrival, a boy. The sister has no plans on getting married. However, she wants the child to have the boyfriend's last name, further disappointing her family which lacks any sons to carry on the family name.

So then, this is the context within which my father looked at his son, who had not knocked anyone up, and his daughter who was not knocked up, and took a moment to appreciate how lucky he was.