Soon V.J. is up and about and
sees me sitting quietly.
"Uncle Phil, what would
you like to do today? We can go into San Francisco and see the sights"
he tells me.
"You know, V.J., I've
already done the tourist thing - seen Fisherman's Wharf, rode down Lombard
street and such. I'm just fine sitting right here and enjoying your fine
company."
"Well, I'll brew up some
hot tea for you then."
"That'll be just fine,
my friend."
He has taken the day off from
work just to spend time with me, and I really appreciate it. Miss Mo has
to go to work, so she comes down to say good-bye.
"Are you going to fix
Uncle Phil something to eat?" she asks him.
"Yes, I am going to make
him a Russian Omelet and waffles with strawberries."
I pipe up "Boy that will
be just fine with me!"
"He does a really nice
job on those, Uncle Phil" she assures me.
"Well, sounds like I'm
a fixin to find out here in a little bit."
She's off to the daily drudge,
and I feel almost guilty. I know what it's like to go out into the workplace
everyday and I know it won't be long till I'm back at it. Soon V.J. has
whipped up a fine omelet from his special recipe and some awesome waffles,
smothered in delicately cut fresh strawberries with light syrup.
"Wow, V.J., these are
mighty tasty" I tell him.
"Thank you, Uncle Phil."
I just have one problem with
them, they evaporate too quickly from my plate. After we finish up, we
adjourn back to the living room. We both naturally sit down on the floor
and I have to chuckle a little bit. I never forget the first time I met
V.J. over at Dennis Ryan's house. He came in and I was sitting on the
floor with my legs crossed - which is an old family tradition of mine.
He told me then
"You're one of the few
Americans that I've ever seen do that."
It seems my mother's daddy
and further back did it and I just sort of picked up. To this day, I'd
rather usually sit in the floor than sit in a chair.
As we sip our hot tea, we talk
about our lives and how we were raised. V.J. was one of twin boys born
in India, and because of difficult circumstances he was sent out into
the country to live with his grandmother. So he spent his early days in
a small village, learning to enjoy his own company, rambling through the
countryside. I tell him that is kind of how I came up - small country
town, nobody much but myself. I too learned early on that I don't need
a crowd around me to feel happy. As I tell him -
"I reckon the the country
is the country, regardless of which side of the globe it's situated on."
We also have a lot in common
in our occupations - he and I both develop software. We both laugh at
each other's stories of the insanity of the software business. Then he
remembers that he has a chore to tend to -
"I've got to feed my cat
out in the garage. Because of the white carpets and the fact that she
has long hair, she doesn't come in the house."
So I follow him out the door
to meet the Grand Dame of the Manor, Miss Shirley.
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