Homecoming

This weekend I helped my mom with clean up and reorganization from her kitchen remodel. Many of you have been to my house in Oakland. We moved there in 1969 and have NEVER remodeled. Sure we replaced the roof several times, and repainted. But the interior has never seen a face lift other than the replacement of broken appliances (and the addition of those stylish burglar bars to further remind you that you're in Oakland).

Being immigrants with poor English skills, my parents never were able to generate much income. They were reduced to jobs in restaurants and sweat shops, making far less than minimum wage. Knowing that home-ownership was a must, they purchased our house on Harding Way for $23,000. All the siblings worked to help pay the bills and other expenses. There was zero budget for any luxury items and we never took a family vacation, but at least we had a home that was ours.

Though money was tight, the one thing my parents would splurge on was food. My dad was a great cook, specializing in duck, pork, crab, and apple and custard pies. My mom specialized in sesame balls (gin dui), egg rolls, jung, law-bok go, and other dim sum delicacies. The kitchen was their workshop. It was dark, cramp, and falling apart, but they didn't complain. Their only challenge was making enough to feed 20 people. We've had countless dinners celebrating all the holidays, birthdays and MJ parties which I fondly remember. Sure it was crowded, but when we're all piled together, there's an undeniable sense of closeness and family unity that's very comforting.

The dinners ended in 2004 when my dad had his stroke. He passed away in 2005 and to this day we have not gathered there for any celebrations. My mom still loves to host, but her house is now even more run-down and not kid-friendly to our expanding family of 25. Nowadays, the only time we visit is when we are summoned for home repair or yard work. Sadly because of this, some of us have avoided the house entirely.

This past year we've been fixing the house a little at a time. First the windows, then the roof, then the pipes. A month ago my I hired a contractor to remodel the kitchen. With so many other things falling apart, he's now remodeling half the house, replacing floors, doors, and both bathrooms. There's still plenty to do such as landscaping and painting, but for now, at least the inside is a bit more inviting.

It's a great feeling to finally reward my mom with a new functional kitchen with simple conveniences like a divided sink, a window that opens, and drawers that don't fall out. The joy of having counters and floors that actually look clean when you wipe them, and bathrooms free of mildew. Most of the work is done and the rest is scheduled to be finished this week. My mom is excited to host again and has already invited everyone over for Chinese New Year on Sunday. To her, it will be like open house. To me, it will be like Homecoming.