Surrounded by Family

My sister has moved back home. Not only has she returned to the Bay, she’s living here in San Francisco. Her husband Ronnie is now a faculty member at UCSF and the Physician in Charge of the Urgent Care Center at SF General. I’m so proud of my brother-in-law, teaching, saving lives, and supporting his family. My sister is looking for a music teacher position at a local public school. Holler if you have any contacts!

They’re living in UCSF housing at Mission Bay near the ballpark. An interesting fact: my first boss after I finished college worked on the environmental remediation project of Mission Bay. San Francisco honored her for the enormous amount of work she put into cleaning up that toxic waste area. Under her guidance, I worked on many environmental cleanup projects, but never Mission Bay. That’s where my little nephew lives and breathes now, so I hope she did a stellar job!

I deliberately went to their place on Tuesday for dinner and ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ It’s tough being addicted to a TV show and not having a TV. Therese made a fine Tilapia dinner. Mmmmhmm, home-cooking good. We cracked up while watching the show and I realized how lucky I am to have my sister back home and so close to me—10-15 minutes away. I promised to babysit as long as I had an internet connection to get some work done.

My aunt threw a party today for my nephew (my cousin’s youngest son) who turned 2. 5 of my dad’s 9 living siblings were there with their kids. My aunt cooked so much food, I kept asking if it was Thanksgiving.

My younger cousin came up to me later on, “I’m going to homecoming and my mom wanted me to ask you if I could borrow one of your formal dresses. It’s in a few weeks.” I was flattered that my 14-year-old cousin who’s much taller than me and pixie-thin asked to borrow my clothing. “It can’t be that short, right above or below my knees, and it can’t be red or blue.”

“Why? Are those your rivals’ colors?”

“The Crips and the Bloods. Duh!”

I’ve always considered myself lucky to be this close to my family and extended family. It makes being single a lot easier.