My older son attends college a couple of hours away from me. He comes home every so few weekends to visit with me and his brother. During the weekends of his visits, my household goes through a more energetic upkeep! The part of my house that is most affected in preparation for my son’s visits is my kitchen. Something happens to kids who go away to college and live away from home. Is it their appetites that change or does something emotional happen to them, I am not sure, but I know that when my son and my many nieces and nephews return home during weekends or breaks, they can’t stop visiting that food-laden refrigerator or eating whatever food is prepared in the house without their usual fuss.
My son wasn’t scheduled to come home this weekend, so no particular preparations had taken place in my household. He had called his younger brother from San Francisco at 10 p.m., saying that he had hitched a ride to The City, wondering whether his brother could meet him there to hang out and bring him home later.
I went to bed long before they had returned. As the mischievous rays of sunshine poked through the window and woke me up on this Sunday morning, I padded down the hall to check in on the situation of the household! Sure enough, in each of their bedrooms there was a cute head sticking out of their blanket-wrapped shapes, breathing deeply and peacefully, the way we all used to breathe when we slept in our beds in our parents’ homes.
I had an inspiration! I decided I would cook an elaborate meal and surprise them when they woke up! We could eat together before my older son was to return to Santa Cruz in late afternoon. Quietly I went upstairs to start cooking what I had in mind. Ghormeh Sabzi, Tah Chin, and Salad Shirazi!
My Ghormeh Sabzi was well in progress, complete with first the smell of onions frying with turmeric, and the pungent herbs simmering in the stew, when I was startled to see a tall guy in the little landing between the kitchen and the bathroom. What the heck?!! Before alarm bells had a chance to go off in my head, I saw a second guy standing next to the first one, looking at me, startled and motionless. Who are these guys, how did they get into my house, and what do they want from me? I was horrified. I thought of screaming to get my sons to come to my rescue, but in those split seconds I was thinking to myself, maybe it would be better for them not to come upstairs to face these men, lest they might get hurt.
(To be continued)
