Eating Raisins in Bangkok

So as Top Management has posted, our pal Keri has spent the past year traveling the world, visiting large parts of the Middle East and Asia, whilst avoiding the perhaps more common tourist destinations such as England, France, Australia and Japan. Instead she’s spent entire months in Egypt and India, Korea and China and Vietnam, as well as days or weeks in a dozen other countries.

She called earlier today and told me she was back in Thailand. We chatted for a while about stuff, and I tried to avoid asking her when she was coming back, since I know I hate being pressured about my future plans. A bit later, I got the following email, one of my favorite letters ever:

Remember when you asked me yesterday..."what are you doing in Bangkok? Haven't you already seen everything?" And I kinda stammered a bit then said I was working on my resume, making plans for my next steps once I come home, sussing out future goals and insurance policies. Nope. I'm not.

It was my first or second visit to Virginia and Max and The Rose had finished lunch and went off to the Blue Room to play. I have no idea where you were, but it was just me, Top Management and The Bean in the kitchen. Top Management and I were going to sit and have a chat, but before we took our seats, Top Management took a handful of raisins and placed them on the small table in the bay window of the kitchen and told The Bean to sit and eat them.

The Bean sat down and popped a raisin in her mouth, Top Management and I sat down to what I'm sure was a great conversation. Maybe 15 minutes went by and I was distracted by how quiet The Bean was. I glanced over and she was still sitting there in her chair, gazing out the window like a farmer would gaze at the sky for an on-coming storm. And only half the raisins were gone. There were no toys, no books on the table with her. Just the window, the raisins and The Bean.

Top Management and I kept talking, but a part of my attention was on The Bean. Why wasn't she wolfing down the raisins so she could go play with her sisters? Was this some kind of power struggle between mother and child? Was she being punished? Was a clown doing back-flips in the yard keeping her attention away from the raisins? I nonchalantly got up to get something in the kitchen to check this situation out. No clowns, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in the back yard. The Bean didn't look distressed, she almost had a Zen-type of peacefulness with the whole situation.

Not me. I was having inner turmoil and it was all I could do to take my seat again and not grab the raisins and eat them myself and free her from the chair. I was hoping Max would come along. You see, Max always knows when something doesn't make sense to me and she'll set me straight. Like the time she told me I needed to relax more around children. (She was so dead-on right with that one.) Or when I took her and The Rose out for breakfast in Long Island and The Rose had a meltdown when I took the paper off the straw for her. Poor Rose was so upset, and poor me I couldn't figure out why. Max calmly explained that taking the paper off the straws was one of The Rose's favorite things to do and I didn't let her. Oh, thanks, Max, would have been more helpful to know before I took the straw! Ah, but Max's good with this. You and Top Management don't pick up on it, but somehow Max knows. The Rose has also shown signs that she'll help me out as well.

But no Max. No Rose. And 15 more minutes went by and The Bean finally ate the last raisin. She sat for a few more minutes. Got up slowly. Then tore up the stairs to play with her sisters.

So Scott, to answer your question truthfully, I'm eating raisins in Bangkok.

xo to you and Top Management, Max, The Rose, The Boy, The Baby and my Bangkok role-model, The Bean,

Keri

Comments

[DT]

My God, is that some amazing writing. As someone who kinda loves the written word myself (enough to actually allow myself to use a word like "kinda" once in a while - like a healthy eater occasionally enjoying a Twinkie) I have learned to enjoy a lot of writing but love only a select little. Mostly, I like to be awed. To read something I was not expecting to read.

This one left me in awe. Keri should be very proud. Not because I think it's great, because who the hell am I but a wordy maroon? But because she wrote this and it IS great. I sat here speechless for about 2 minutes after reading that, head shaking and jaw kinda hanging open.

Beautiful job, Keri. Enjoy every raisin.

[Kathy]

Children can teach us all, such valuable lessons, if we take the time to watch or listen. Good for Keri for watching and learning. Thanks for sharing.