Posted onOctober 23, 2015|Comments Off on 10 Years Later (or A Good Memory and A Bad Memory)
10 years ago, I was visiting my cousin Adam and his girlfriend Keri in Portland for the weekend. It was a pretty amazing weekend. It was the first time visiting my cousin on my own without other family there and we went out and did so much fun stuff! I really felt like it was a real “adult” trip.
The highlight of my weekend in Portland was going out on Adam’s sailboat. I remember that there was pretty much no wind that day so we were more motoring than sailing, but I still got to go out on the boat and check out the work that he had done on it. Even with not really getting to sail, I loved being on the water.
After saying goodbye to Adam and Keri at the Portland airport, I went to my gate and waited for my flight (I think this was still in the time where you had to line up for Southwest to have a good spot in the A group). I was sitting by the gate and when it was time for me to get up and get on the plane, I tried to stand and immediately had a shooting pain and collapsed on the ground.
To this day, I have no idea how I got onto the plane, through LAX, and home. I’m sure I was a little out of it due to the pain. I just remember waking up the next morning and not being able to put weight on my right leg. Of course, my first reaction was to call my mom. And since I had awesome health insurance then, she told me to make an appointment and see a doctor to figure out what happened.
At first, I was diagnosed with a torn quad muscle (knowing what a torn calf feels like now, I finally understand why I was diagnosed with that at first). After a few weeks of the pain, I saw another doctor and got the same diagnosis again but was also told to go to physical therapy 2-3 times a week to help my recovery (at the time, my insurance covered all appointments in full so I was fine doing that). I was getting ultrasound therapy for a few months with very little improvement. My pain started to change into a locking sensation in my hip.
After sharing that information with my physical therapist, he got me a referral to the surgeon who ended up being my first hip surgeon and properly diagnosing me after months of believing that it was a muscle tear.
9 months from collapsing in the airport I had my hip surgery. The journey with my hip issues has been going ever since.
It’s so crazy to think that it has been 10 years since I fell in the airport. It feels like yesterday and a million years ago at the same time. But instead of focusing on that somewhat annoying anniversary, I’m focusing on the fun that I had on that trip. I had the best time with Adam and Keri that weekend and I think that that was the trip that really built my friendship with Keri. I saw her in person so few times from the time I met her until she passed away. So each of those in-person memories is so precious to me.
Even though that trip 10 years ago ended on a pretty sucky note, everything else leading up to it was so amazing and my only regret is that I don’t have more pictures from that weekend.
Posted onAugust 18, 2015|Comments Off on Another San Diego Day Trip (or 3 Generations and A Dog)
I went down to San Diego for the day this past Sunday. Obviously, I went to visit my grandma. But my parents and dog were also there so I wanted to see them all too!
The last time I was down there was when my grandma had just moved into her new place and the apartment that she and my grandpa shared was still being cleaned out. So I didn’t spend a ton of time in the new room or with my grandma (I was busy helping my aunt organize things and get things set aside for me). But now, the old apartment isn’t my grandma’s anymore and she’s totally in her new space. I love where she lives now. While it is small, it’s really cute and all the things that my grandma needs are in there.
The original plan for the day was for me to get there before noon and we’d spend most of the day at my grandma’s place until we went out to dinner. But when I arrived, my dad met me at the valet stand and told me that all the air conditioning in the building was broken. We are going through quite a heat wave here, so without air conditioning my grandma’s room was pretty unbearable. So we spent about an hour at a little mini dog park across the street so Tucker could stretch out (it was too hot to run) and we could enjoy some shade and a little breeze.
When it was time for my grandma’s lunch, I went into the lunch room and sat with her while my parents stayed back with the dog (he can’t be in the lunch room). My grandma isn’t nearly as chatty and social as she was in the past, but we were able to have some nice conversations. I showed her lots of pictures on Facebook that my cousins, brother, and I have posted lately (she doesn’t have a computer so she doesn’t get to see those pictures). She liked seeing the pictures from my birthday and the one’s my cousin posts of her kids.
After lunch, we hung out in my grandma’s room for a little while since the air conditioning was working again, but then my parents and I left so she could rest and we could go to the hotel where my parents were staying.
When it was just me and my parents, we talked about a lot of random stuff. I’m hoping to get out to Tahoe this winter since I never made it out this summer. So we discussed some possible dates for me to meet them there. My dad had some iPhone and iPad questions so I took care of those for him (that’s how I “pay” him for my house repairs). And of course, we played with Tucker who is still a very silly puppy.
My parents, my grandma, and I went to dinner at Ruth’s Chris. I had never been there before (or according to my parents I might have been when I was little), but it was a really nice dinner. We were celebrating my parents’ anniversary so there was a special page in the menu for them.
We also sat inside right at the window so we had a pretty amazing view of the sunset.
My mom, dad, and I all ordered one of the special 4 course meals (which was cheaper than a steak on its own) and it was really yummy! My dad and I shared some of our food and he gave me his leftovers to eat for lunch the next day. Since our 4 course specials came with dessert, they added a nice touch to my parents’ desserts.
After dinner we took my grandma home and I said goodbye to her. Then I went back to my parents’ hotel (where my car was) and said goodbye to my parents and dog. As of right now, I don’t know if I’ll see them before Thanksgiving. So it might be goodbye for a while.
On my drive back home, I did have one really fun treat. I was driving by Disneyland when they were shooting the fireworks off! The fireworks are shot off so close to the freeway that you can watch them while you are driving without having to take your eyes off of the road. That helped to break up the driving.
Fortunately, I’m so used to doing this drive in the same day that it’s not a big deal to me anymore. I’m not sure if I’ll make it down to San Diego again before we are all there for Thanksgiving, but I’m really going to try.
Posted onApril 24, 2015|Comments Off on Work Time Family Visit (or Already Preparing To Renew My Disneyland Pass)
My parents have been in San Diego again recently helping my grandma. They drove back yesterday. And since my house is on the way, they stopped by.
They usually don’t stop when they are doing that drive. Their preferred method of driving down goes around LA, so it would be tough for them to make the detour. But this time, there was a reason they drove through LA.
First of all, my mom still had the wine that I bought in Napa. I couldn’t fly it back with me (since I only had a carry on), so the plan was always for my mom to drive it down for me. I was originally going to try to meet them in San Diego while there were down this time, but that didn’t quite work out.
Also, I had gotten my dad his Hanukkah present insanely early this year. I knew exactly what I wanted to get him in January, so I didn’t think I would want to wait until Thanksgiving to give it to him. And I knew that he would want to use it, so their detour to my house was also for my dad to get a gift.
And as always, I had a few things I wanted to fix in my house and my dad is a pretty awesome handyman.
So yesterday during my work shift, my parents (and dog) came over for about 45 minutes. Fortunately, my job was pretty quiet while they were here so I could focus on them.
The projects in my house were pretty simple. There was a drawer that was broken that needed a new screw and my toilet paper holder was falling out of the wall. Both of those things were done within minutes.
Then it was time for me to give my dad his Hanukkah present. I had been giving him hints for a while, but he had no idea that I got him a TRX Strap system! My dad had used TRX straps when he worked out with me at Orangetheorybefore, but the gym that my parents belong to don’t have straps that can be used without an appointment with a personal trainer. So now he has his own set of straps that he can use at the house (my mom has already said that she wants to use them too).
But one of the coolest things was something my parents brought me.
They brought me ink to recycle! As I mentioned before, I use the money I get from recycling ink to help pay for my Disneylandpass! This will definitely help me when I renew my pass next year. And I’m sure I’ll get more ink from my parents over the year as well (my mom just saves them all for me).
While this visit was only 45 minutes, we really did get a lot done. And since I had just seen my parents a few weeks ago, there wasn’t too much to catch up on (plus, I talk to my mom pretty much every day on the phone). I’ll probably see them again in a few weeks when they come back down to San Diego too.
Even though this visit was super quick, I’m so glad that my parents were able to stop by. Any distractions during my work day are appreciated and this was a really nice distraction.
I just spent the past few days in San Diego with my family. My parents, aunt, and uncle got down there on Thursday. But they wanted to have a few days with my grandma on their own first. So I came down on Sunday (my brother flew down that day too). And I was there through Tuesday.
I wanted to bring some food down with me for the family, but my mom was cooking a ton. So I mentioned a few things that I could make that would be good for any meal, and my mom thought that my blueberry banana bread would be perfect (plus, my grandpa loved it).
I’ve made that recipe so many times but this had to be my best batch ever.
Obviously it was a very sad time for my family. We had to do some of the not so fun tasks you have to do when someone passes away. I tried to help out as much as I could, but most of it was being done by my mom and uncle (my aunt who is their sibling wasn’t able to get back to San Diego until Tuesday).
We spent some time remembering some of the funny stories about my grandpa. But we didn’t do a ton of that because it always seemed to make someone sad.
My brother got my grandma to play him in several games of backgammon.
My grandma kicks butt at backgammon. Ever since I was little my grandpa would say that grandma must be a witch because she can get double sixes every time that she needs them.
My brother played as tough as he could. But my grandma won 6 games and Ross only won 3.
We also tried to enjoy spending time with the dog. Since my parents had to get down to San Diego quickly, they couldn’t arrange for a dog sitter. So Tucker spent a lot of time with us being his usual goofy self. I think he especially loved having my brother and I in the same hotel room as my parents (it was a two bedroom hotel room). And he loved my bedding.
We also heard some amazing stories from other residents and some employees of the building that my grandparents live in. Everyone had such nice things to say about my grandpa. Everyone seemed so shocked about him passing away because even just the day before he was his usual feisty self.
In the mailroom of the building they live in, they posted a wonderful photo of my grandpa. Nobody in my family had ever seen that photo before, so I asked the concierge of their building where the photo came from. It turns out that they took it when my grandparents moved in a few years ago. They asked if we wanted the photo and I said yes. And my uncle scanned it in so we could all have it.
I wish that I could have stayed down there longer, but my aunts, uncle, and parents will be there for the rest of the week. And my parents will probably be down again in another week or two. I’ll probably go down there again then.
For now, it’s time for me to get back to my normal life. That’s what my grandpa would want me to do. He probably would have hated that I wrote the post on Tuesday about him. He didn’t like having a fuss made for him.
So it’s back to my day job, my workouts, and hopefully some auditions.
This past weekend was a fun weekend getaway for me! I went to Napa/Sonoma with my mom and sister-in-law! This trip had been in the works for a while now, and I had been looking forward to it for a long time. Even though I grew up in Northern California, I moved to LA when I was 18 and never went to Napa before. But my mom likes to go there and my brother and sister-in-law go up there at least once a month. So I was in good hands and trusted them to plan an awesome weekend.
I got into SFO very late on Friday, and the three of us headed up to Sonoma where we were staying. Since it was dark out, I didn’t really see too much, but I was very excited to see what was in store for me the next day.
On Saturday, we had a fun full day planned. Also, my best friend Kate was able to drive up and join us for the day! Once Kate got to the hotel, we got into the car and headed to our first appointment of the day: Arrowood.
I had no idea what was going to happen at the tasting, but my sister-in-law had set up a private room for a wine and cheese pairing. Plus, we had an incredible view!
Once we got inside the tasting room, we were given a menu of all the wines, cheeses, and condiments that we would be enjoying.
I’m typically a champagne or white wine drinker, but my sister-in-law really wants me to start liking reds. So I tried everything that was given to me (although I still don’t really like reds yet).
The whites were really good. And the cheeses really did make a difference in how each wine tasted. I had never really done a formal wine tasting before so this was a very cool experience. And I’m glad that my sister-in-law made an appointment for us for a private tasting because the lobby where non-appointment guests had tastes was very crowded and loud.
I didn’t end up purchasing any wine from Arrowood, but Kate and my mom got some.
After that tasting, we went to Benziger where they had a tour of their grounds as well as tastings. We didn’t have an appointment, but a tour was starting right after we got there, so the timing was perfect!
This tour started out by driving around some of the vineyards and the guide explaining on how they made the wine. They do everything on site, and while the grapes weren’t currently growing, it was all beautiful.
After driving around the grounds, we got to go inside one of the caves where they store the barrels of wine.
This was so cool! We learned about the barrel process and how long they have everything aging in the cave.
After touring the caves, we got to taste some of the wines. Again, I liked the white ones but the reds weren’t my favorite.
After those two tastings, we headed into town to have a nice lunch between our tastings. We were in a bit of a rush, but we all ordered things that were able to be made quickly. I had a mushroom truffle flatbread (I figured that would soak up some of my before lunchtime wine).
As we were leaving lunch, the sky started to look funny. And as soon as we were in the car a hailstorm started! It wasn’t too crazy at first, but then the hail got bigger and bigger and the storm didn’t seem to be letting up!
Our last wine stop for the day was Gundlach Bundschu. At this winery we had set up a cave tour and tasting inside the cave. It was still raining when we arrived, but we rushed into the cave to start the tour and tasting.
We learned a bit of history about the winery and then we tasted some of the wines that had already been bottled. But after that, we got to taste some of the wines in the barrels that were still aging!
I probably learned more about wine that day than I have in my entire life! And I think that everyone agrees and also had an amazing time! And I bought a bottle of white wine from that vineyard (my mom will be driving down my way in April so she’s bringing me my wine since I couldn’t put it in my carry on).
After all those tastings, we went out for a fun Italian dinner. Then Kate had to head back home(sadly she couldn’t join us for the entire weekend).
The next day wasn’t a wine tasting day (more on Sunday in tomorrow’s post!), but Monday was another wine day!
On Monday, we had 2 tastings set up. The first was at Duckhorn, where my brother and sister-in-law are members (so they get free tastings!).
It was a bit cold out, but they had heaters on the patio, so we enjoyed a nice tasting outside. And we got a lot of tastings!
There are only 5 of our 7 tastings in that picture! Again, I didn’t love the reds (I gave my tastings to Krystle) but I really enjoyed the white wine! I really liked the tasting at Duckhorn because we got a card for each wine that had some information like the mixture of grapes, aging time, and flavor profiles on it. I might not have loved the tastes of all the wines, but I loved learning more about them!
Then we went to our final wine tasting, and the one that I had been looking forward to the most! We went to Schramsberg for sparkling wine tasting!
This tasting and tour included a cave tour and tasting by candlelight inside the cave! We had been inside a few caves already that weekend, so I thought I knew what to expect. But this cave was so incredible with all the sparkling wine bottles stacked from the ground to the top of the cave!
And since this was on a weekday, the cave was busy with people working there. We saw them take bottles out of the cave to be cleaned and ready for the next steps in the bottling process. But the coolest thing we saw was the drumming of the bottles (I never knew that was a thing before).
We also learned how they get the yeast (which makes the bubbles) out of the bottles without losing the bottles. And that was also in a section of the cave that was floor to ceiling bottles.
Finally, it was time to taste! And the area for the tasting was so beautiful!
Holy moly that sparkling wine was good! I loved all 3 bottles that we tried. 2 of them cost more than $100 (more than I can afford), but we did try a rose that was a much  more reasonable price. So I ended up buying a bottle of that. And my mom ended up joining their wine club so I got to take advantage of her new discount.
That was such a perfect note to end the wine tasting weekend on! I had such an amazing time and we’ve already decided that we will be making wine tasting weekends an annual occurrence!
And I haven’t shared what we did on Saturday yet. That will come tomorrow, and that day was amazing as well!
I always have Mondays off from my main day job (I work Tuesday-Saturday). I usually just spend the day getting stuff done around my house or running errands. They tend to be pretty lazy days (except for my workout).
But this past Monday my mom was down in San Diego visiting with my grandparents. Her cousin Karen (who I haven’t seen in over 20 years) was also down in San Diego. So I rearranged my day so I could spend a couple of hours in San Diego with everyone.
After an early workout and showering and dressing, I was on the road by 10:30am. The drive went much better than it has in the past. I was down at my grandparents’ place in 2 hours and arrived a few seconds after my mom and cousin Karen got there from their hotel as well.
Most of the day was spent in my grandparents’ condo just catching up. I hadn’t seen my grandparents’ since Thanksgiving so it was awesome to get to see them again. And my mom was at the tail end of a multi-state trip so she was filling me in on everything that she did. And of course, getting to talk with cousin Karen a lot.
We all went out for Mexican food for dinner. I knew we’d be going out to dinner, so I had planned my meals accordingly and saved a lot of calories for the meal. I also had done some research on good vegetarian options at Mexican restaurants (I still haven’t brought meat back into my diet yet).
I ended up getting Huevos Rancheros. It’s somewhat close to what I would make as a rice bowl at home, just with some eggs. Now that I’m being careful with what I’m eating, I’m realizing how difficult it can be to eat out. I had no control over oil, salt, or any other extras that were added into my meal. So I had to try to guess the nutrition levels of my meal as best as I could. But since I was careful with my breakfast and lunch, I think it was ok to splurge a little on my dinner. And I didn’t have any chips or partake in the pitcher of margaritas that the table got.
After dinner, we all headed back to my grandparents’ place and I got my car so I could head home again. I ended up being in San Diego for just under 7 hours, so that’s a pretty good visit.
The drive home was easy again and I was home in time to get some stuff done in preparation for my work week.
I’m so glad that the timing of things worked out so well for me to have a family day on Monday. My family has always been important to me, but I’ve realized lately that I need to put in a better effort to see my family. Time goes by quickly and I can easily go a few months without going to San Diego to see my grandparents and that’s not good. I might be going down to see them again in 2 months when my parents (and dog) are down there. But I’m still trying to work out the timing for that.
I know that it doesn’t seem like I did a lot on my day trip to San Diego, but just being around my family is such a great way for me to recharge and get ready to kick some butt again in my life.
Thanksgiving Day was a family day pretty much from start to finish. The day began with my dad, brother, aunt, and I going to Orangetheory for our workout. It turns out that while we were working out, my mom took Tucker for a walk to Orangetheory and watched us sweat our butts off. None of us saw her or the dog because we were so focused on the workout, but we did see them walking back up the hill as we were coming home (Tucker was tired of the hill so he jumped in the car to catch a ride up).
My mom did a lot of prep work for Thanksgiving in the days and weeks leading up to it, so on the day it wasn’t as much prep time needed as cooking time. The turkey got into the oven quickly and then Tucker discovered the best place to take a nap in the entire house.
While the turkey and various sides were cooking in the oven, a bunch of us decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day we were having in San Diego.
I enjoyed lots of reading time in the shade with my dad while my cousin’s kids hung out in the pool.
After some time in the sunshine, we headed inside for appetizers. We had a couple of different things out, included the feta dip I made. My mom thinks that I did a better job that she does, and while I don’t agree with that I’m happy that everyone enjoyed the dip!
We enjoyed eating some chips and dips and spending time catching up with one another while dinner was finishing up.
I love this photo of my grandma and my cousin’s daughter Annabelle.
We had another incredible sunset that evening and I got a nice family photo of my parents, my brother, and I in the backyard of the rental house.
Before we knew it, the turkey was done and it looked amazing!
My cousin Adam was in charge of carving it because he always does a great job. And while he was carving it, Tucker realized that being next to the turkey was the place to be. And while he was hoping for some scraps to fall, I realized that Dante did the exact same thing at the last Thanksgiving I got to spend with him.
I think the turkey looked like something out of a magazine after Adam carved it.
All the food was set out in the kitchen for us to take and we got started on making our plates.
The rental house had a large enough dining room that we could all sit in the same room together. We pushed 2 tables together to create one long table and it was perfect.
The food was delicious and getting to spend time like that with my family was perfect.
After dinner, we all went into the living room to take a family photo. We were missing my cousin John and my sister-in-law, but to have this many members of my family together in one place is rare and we had to get a picture.
That’s 4 generations of the Fry family in that photo. I love how even Tucker is smiling!
After the family photo, my cousin Stephie, her husband Clay, and I went out to go see the new Hunger Games movie. This has become a tradition for the 3 of us to do and it’s something that I look forward to a lot. When we got to the theater, we had a while to wait before the movie. But there was some Christmas stuff up already so Stephie and I decided to do a little photo shoot.
When we got into the theater, the set up was similar to the theater I saw “The Theory Of Everything” in. They didn’t have waiters to bring you food or drinks, but we all got recliners!
The recliners might have been a bad thing for my cousin, though. She kept falling asleep in the beginning of the movie. But she went out and got some popcorn and that perked her up right away!
We all loved the movie and we have next year’s movie to look forward to.
Overall, this might have been the best Thanksgiving ever. There was no craziness and all the food was amazing. And I got to pretty much spend the entire day with my whole family. We all agreed that this year was pretty perfect. And we are looking at getting the same rental house for next year since it fit our family so well.
I know that I’m so lucky that I get the chance like this to be with my extended family and that we are all so close to one another. We don’t get to see each other too often so we try to take advantage of the time we have together each year at Thanksgiving.
I hope that all of you got to spend your Thanksgiving exactly the way you wanted to.
First of all, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I’m writing this post in advance so I can focus my time on my family, but I wanted to share with you all the dish that I brought down to San Diego with me.
I had asked my mom ahead of time if there was anything I could help her with, and she asked me to get some chips we like from Trader Joes and to make her feta-pine nut dip because she didn’t know if she would have the time to do it on her own. I figured I could make it at home and then drive down with it in a little cooler with an ice pack, so I said that I’d be happy to help out.
This dip is a family favorite and something that everyone loves and looks forward to at any family gathering. And I had never made it before so the pressure was on! But thankfully, the recipe isn’t too tough. So here’s my mom’s famous recipe for feta-pine nut dip so you can all make it and impress your friends and family!
Feta-Pine Nut Dip
What You Need:
1 (8 oz) Tub Whipped Cream Cheese Spread
1/2 Cup Plain Non-Fat Yogurt
3 Tbsp Pine Nuts (Toasted)
2 Tbsp (Packed) Fresh Basil
1 Clove Garlic, Crushed
1 (7 oz) Package Feta Cheese
1/3 Cup Chopped, Drained Oil-Packed Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Here’s What You Do:
Place cream cheese, yogurt, pine nuts, basil, and garlic in food processor.
Blend using the pulse button until combined.
Add feta (crumbled or cubed) and sun-dried tomatoes and pulse until combined but still chunky.
That’s it! If you aren’t serving it right away, store it in the fridge. And this is a great make-ahead dip because it’s good for about a week in the fridge!
I highly recommend serving it with pita chips, veggies, or the flax-seed chips that you can get from Trader Joes.
As I’m writing this, my family has not tried it yet. I tasted it after it was made and besides being a little garlicky (I must have bought some potent garlic), it tastes exactly how my mom’s dip tastes.
Hopefully my family thinks that I did a good job with it and they enjoy it on Thanksgiving. And if you try out the recipe, let me know if your family and friends love it too!
Posted onMay 19, 2014|Comments Off on Small World (or Always Speak Positively)
This post is both a funny story and a lesson that my mom taught me when I was little.
To start with the lesson, my mom has always said that you should only speak positive and nice things about people. You never know who knows someone.
And here’s the story that reminded me of that lesson.
I was working in the office of my bosses for my recruiting job on Friday. I only work in the office about once every other week helping my bosses (who are husband and wife) organize their files. Also right now, I’m helping them pack things up as they are moving into an office building (instead of the home office that they have now). It’s not tough work at all, so a lot of the time I’m chatting with either John (my main boss) or Kris (his wife).
This past Friday I was helping Kris throw out old paperwork that they didn’t need to transfer when they move to the new office. Some of the paperwork was for the country club that they belong to. I recognized the name of the country club as a place that my second cousin, Wendy, mentioned when I was over at her house for Passover.
I mentioned to John and Kris that I thought my second cousin might belong to the same country club as they do. They asked me what my cousin’s name is and I told them. Both John and Kris had a look of shock on their faces and I asked them if they knew my second cousin.
Turns out, John dated Wendy in college and he and Kris are responsible for introducing her to her husband! They are very very close friends!
After the shock wore off, we all started to laugh. What were the chances of this?!? I showed them the picture from Passover and they told me that they were supposed to be at that Passover dinner, but they ended up having to be somewhere else.
Of course, I thought my cousin Wendy would get a kick out of hearing this story, so John sent her an email. She thought it was pretty funny as well. After I was done with work, I sent her an email myself.
And I also thought my mom would find the story awesome as well. So I gave her a call and relayed the whole thing to her. And of course, the first thing she said to me was to remind me of the lesson about always saying nice things about others.
I might not always say only nice things about people, but I do try hard to do so. And things like my bosses knowing my second cousin (and a lot of my other extended family members as well) remind me of how important it is to try even harder to never burn bridges or gossip about others.
It’s so true that it’s a small world and things will get back to people even if you don’t think people know each other.
Posted onApril 17, 2014|Comments Off on Passover (or A Family Reunion A Decade Overdue)
Monday evening was the first night of Passover. Even though both of my parents are Jewish and I went to Hebrew school for a few years, I don’t really celebrate any of the Jewish holidays. I went to a Passover Seder a few years ago that a friend did, but she and I were the only Jews there.
A little over a month ago, my mom was talking with her cousin who lives in LA and somehow I came up in conversation. My mom mentioned how I still live in LA and her cousin had no idea. I had seen her years ago, but she just thought that when I finished college I had moved away. So as soon as she realized I was still here, she invited me to Passover dinner.
I was really excited to get to see my second cousin again. The last time I saw her was right after my hip surgery, and I hadn’t seen her siblings (my other second cousins) in possibly over a decade. That’s a little ridiculous when we all live in LA.
I was a little nervous when I got there because I wasn’t sure how it would be with family who were practically strangers to me. But as soon as I walked inside, I was welcomed with open arms. My cousin Wendy, who was hosting the event, was so happy to see me again. She was asking me all about my life and as soon as other guests arrived, she made sure to introduce me to them right away so I didn’t feel left out.
My second cousins Randy and Craig were also there with their families. I had met Craig’s wife before but I don’t know if I had met Randy’s wife in the past. And I had never met any of their kids before, so I got to meet 4 new third cousins that I didn’t know existed!
Dinner was great. I was seated next to cousin Wendy so that was very nice. And I got to catch up with all the other family at the table. Also, pretty much everyone there was either in the entertainment industry or knew a lot about it so that dominated a lot of the conversation.
We did a semi-traditional Seder. We went over the Seder plate and the plagues and said some of the prayers, but we didn’t do a full Seder. But that gave us more time to catch up.
I had also brought the wedding album my mom made of Ross and Krystle’s wedding, so all my second cousins wanted to see that and see other family members (they haven’t seen anyone from my section of the family for a very long time).
Before I knew it, it was time for all of us to go home. I exchanged numbers and email addresses with my second cousins and I’m hoping that I can get to know them even more and make sure that it’s not another decade before I see them again.
But before we all said goodbye, I made sure we all got a picture together so I could show my mom.
It was really an amazing evening. I feel like I’ve gotten to reconnect with a section of my family that had been lost to me in the past. I know it’s nobody’s fault that we all fell out of touch and hadn’t seen each other in forever. But I’m going to make it my responsibility to make sure that I get together with them more often now.
