There's A Theme to Vacation

For those who don't know the story of how my brother came to our family, here is the abridged version: My senior year, there was a Chinese foreign exchange student who had multiple host homes fall through and nowhere to live. I'd never met him, but felt bad for the kid, so I went home after rehearsal one night and asked if we could give the kid a place to stay for a couple of nights. In a matter of an hour, we had decided not only to let him stay, but to let him stay for the entire year. We knew nothing about him, other than the fact that he was a junior and played the violin. It was a Thursday night. We didn't have a bedroom for him. That weekend, we made a bedroom. Sunday night the exchange coordinator brought him to meet us and Monday they literally dropped him off on our doorstep. Most kids bring home dogs and ask to keep them. I brought home a Chinese kid.

By the end of the year, Kevin was part of our family. He had a sister and American parents and we had a Chinese brother & son. I'm not too macho to admit that I started crying when we pulled out of the driveway the day he flew home. Fast forward two years and we flew out to Sate College, PA to get him set up for college at Penn State. He came home for Christmas or Thanksgiving every year. And two years ago, his mom came home with him for Christmas.

This weekend (time flies), Kevin graduated from Penn State. It seemed only appropriate that we were there for graduation - after all, he's the brother/son. So we came. His Chinese parents were there, too. It was great to see mom again and great to finally meet dad.

When we got here Thursday, Kevin took us around campus and showed us some of his favorite places, then took us to the Nittany Lion Inn for dinner. The Nittany Lion Inn is a beautiful, historic hotel & restaurant on the oldest part of campus. The architecture of the building has been well-preserved and is absolutely beautiful. The menu is full of classics - all with a modern twist. Dinner was absolutely divine.

Yesterday was a very busy day. We started with breakfast at The Waffle Shop, a family-owned place with a great breakfast r. I'm told I missed out on the best omlettes, but it's called The Waffle Shop! I ordered waffles! After, we walked around campus and took family photos of Kevin in his "robe and crown." That's where Kevin's mom, Ling, really cracked me up. She insisted on lots of photos with her and I and nobody else. Yep. I have a Chinese mom.

Lunch reservations were at a little modern cafe called Zola. The burger dad ordered was bigger than his head. My crab cake was incredible and both moms had a chicken panini that had carmelized onion and Gouda cheese. Delish. After a short nap, we went to graduation! There were 1100+ students graduating from the engineering school, but I was impressed with how efficiently and quickly the ceremony ran. Never have I been more proud of anyone than I was of my brother as he walked across that stage last night.

After, we went out to a traditional Chinese dinner (at midnight, mind you). Are you starting to see a theme to this vacation? Yeah. Me too. Good thing we did so much walking and calorie burning yesterday.

We said goodbye to our boy last night, knowing that he will likely be home this summer. But we probably won't see long and Yi (the Chinese parents) for a long time again. And that makes me sad. Because, you know, family isn't always blood. Sometimes, family are the people you trust and love and help through anything, no matter what. Kevin is my family. And because Kevin is my family, Ling and Yi are also my family. I'm proud to say that I have parents in two different continents, two different cultures and two different families. Because you can never have enough family.