August232009
8/24/09 - Making Bread with Grandpa.
If you want to learn anything, ask us, Grandpa told me one day at lunch.
If we know how to do it, we’ll tell you. If we don’t, we’ll figure it out.
My grandparents are the most curious and driven octogenarians I know. I find it striking that they have only become more eager to discover the world as time passes. Every few days, grandpa would share a newspaper clipping with me, and almost everyday, he and grandma would have an English phrase they wish to discuss.
Is it alright, Grandma described a time when a friend had invited her to breakfast in English,is it alright that I said: Thanks- she struggled a bit with the recollection then slowly, carefully, she continued, but my dear waits for breakfast with me.
It was not a response I had expected; it was much more elegant. I smiled and put my arm around her, just as grandpa decided to share his English phrase of the day,
We cannot escape each other, he declared.
Divorce is not an option.
What? I looked up, confused. Where did you learn that?
He didn’t respond right away. Instead, he explained what the sentence meant and asked if the translation was right.
Are you trying to tell me something?
Grandma pretended to be angry, but her mischievous eyes gave her away. The two of them looked at each other and suddenly burst out laughing. An old woman and an old man; a young girl and a young boy. These days with my grandparents, I see splits and parallels of time.
But divorce is not an option, that’s a good thing right? grandpa said innocently, Anyway, I didn’t say it. Clinton was the one who said it.
And you remember it just like that? I marveled at his memory.
Oh, and I remember all the details of what you’ve told me too, he smiled.
It runs in the family, you see.
***
Grandpa instructed me as I rolled the dough for his new bread recipe, Whatever we do, we should ask ourselves if the method is ideal. We can always improve, always find a better way.
When I grow old, I want to be like my grandparents.
You don’t have to be waiting in any line!, grandpa randomly announced in English (he had been tracking Obama’s statements on the healthcare reform).
