Friday Visit with the Haradas

After laboring in the Math Dept, I hopped in my zippy but very dirty Mazda5 and drove to Karen's parents' house. As I walked up the pathway to their house, I remembered the first time I visited Karen at was then home. We were in 8th grade, I think, so we would have been 13 years old since it would have been Fall. Shane was having little league baseball games at the park near her house (about 1/2 a block away). When we discovered this fact, she told me that I could stop by any time. At this point in my life, I didn't just go to a friend's house. Arrangements had to be made in advance and parents had to be contacted and in approval. When I made the bold move to walk to Karen's home before one of Shane's games, I hadn't called first (and no, there were no cellphones back then so I couldn't just call on my way over) and wasn't even sure she was home. Also, I was worried that her parents might be upset with an unexpected guest at the front door. Thus, I paced in front of the house, debating whether or not to start down the path to the door. I think I may have even headed back to the park a few times. Finally, I plucked up the courage and rang the doorbell. I'd like to say that we've been best friends ever since.

Anyway, on Friday night, I ate dinner with Karen's parents (Mary and Hideo) and her sister (Liza) and Liza's husband (Randy) and their son (Tyler). Tyler is about 20 months or so. He can count to 10 (sometimes skipping seven). He can drink from a regular cup (apparently he skipped sippy cups) and eat with an almost adult sized metal fork. And he even gave me a hug when he left (this is only the third time he's met me, and the other times he wasn't even a year old yet). So basically, lots of cuteness.