Mom’s visit

Dessert

Stir-fry

Beef salad

A couple of weeks ago, my mom came to visit my siblings and I.  Before she came down I told her that I would like for her to cook me some of my favorites especially the desserts since I rarely eat it! When she came down she brought my dad’s famous beef meatballs which he has become an expert in making over the years. Also she brought some of delicious pork sausage that we cook in the oven and ate with rice. 

My mom made stir-fry, dessert, pho, and salads for us.  She cooked the whole week she was here. Sitting in the kitchen and eating together reminds me of my time at home as a kid and teenager. Her cooking brings back memories of friends and family coming over to eat on the weekends where we would have at lest five main dishes.  The adults would be sprawl out in the living room floor sitting on the matts and the kids would be sitting on the kitchen floor with their food.  The adults would be eating, drinking, and laughing at something somebody else would say.  After the meals were over, somebody would crank up the stereo and put on some Lao tape. Then some people would get up and start up the lum vong.  Some would dance, some would sing while others just sat back and relax and laugh at everybody else.

I along with the rest of the teenagers would help the women clean up and wash the dishes.  Then all the teenagers would go outside and visit while our parents stayed inside the house. 

My mom’s visit reminds me of how much I miss living in a Lao community where everybody knew each other, where one Lao person helped another, where we enjoy the simple things in life.