We drove down to Toronto last night and in the vehicle we play a card game called how well do you know your family. It is fairly easy for everyone as we all know each other fairly well. Olivier is interesting. The specificity of some of his answers makes it rather difficult to guess the right answer at times. We do not keep score or anything and just play for fun. It is not super competitive. Olivier had remarked that he found it was difficult to know some of my answers. A brothers will do, Xavier replied that I was easy to answer. It does reinforce the fact that I spend more time with Xavier and Mel more time with Olivier. I am sitting at the arena while the other two are out gallivanting. It is tradition. A question that came up during the game that was presented to me amused me greatly. If I was stuck on a deserted island alone who would I want to be with. There were no rules, and it could be fiction or real in any timeline. The kids were listing Iron Man and fictional geniuses and then Mel eventually guessed herself saying that was the only acceptable answer. When the question was first posed I did not hesitate and immediately thought of her. If I was going to be stuck somewhere alone then Mel is the only one I could think of. I joked that we might not survive long, but we would be there together. The kids were thinking of people that could help them escape. I did not care of escaping. All I thought of was a life with Mel. Mel said we could build shelter and figure out a way to survive. I did not put much though of that. All I had in my mind was if I was stuck for eternity and I could only have 1 person who would it be. A lot of the things that we argue about would not exist on a deserted island. No cupboard left open….as we would not have furniture with cupboard doors. No stuff laying around the house or random deliveries all the time. Just her and me. It probably hits home a bit more now as I remember how much she took care of me and everyone else the first time around. As weird as this seems, I feel that this time I have even more offers of assistance. Quite a few people have offered to drive me to my appointments if needed. No questions asked, regardless of time of day. I appreciate the gesture. Once we know what the schedule will be like we will know more.
Xavier’s hockey schedule for this weekend is early games, so there is a very early curfew for the team. We went to bed early but I did not sleep well last night and Mel asked if I was worried about the tests. Consciously, I do not think I am. But in the middle of the night do I wonder what will happen. I am not scared or worried about treatments, but I think about what is going to change and how will we adapt to all of these changes. We went to the grocery store and I see things and think that I want to buy them, but then I remember that I will not be able to eat as much. There is a lot of food sitting around now that I will not be able to eat and we will waste. I should invite everyone over for a huge meal to celebrate our renovations once they are complete. I can show off the new kitchen and make a feast for everyone. I wonder if I will be able to do that or not. I know that Mel wants me to be able to use the kitchen as soon as possible as well. When we first started dating we use to cook together in the kitchen all of the time, but over the years it has not been as enjoyable. She blames it on me being too picky and demanding in the kitchen. If she was a professional sous chef we would not have much of an issue. So clearly we see who is a lot fault. Between running the household it makes sense for her to moonlight as a culinary student at night. I am pretty sure that if she did it we would have opened a generational chain of restaurants by now. Olivier could take it over when he is older. But alas we will not have a restauran tto pass down to our kids now.
We took some teammates out to a restaurant that we enjoy in Toronto for some Asian food. We order safe things that everyone normally likes. There is one dish in particular that I like and Mel hates it. She does not like the texture or the mouth feel and she always ask why am I ordering it. I tell her because everyone loves it. Guess what happened. We ordered it. Everyone loved it. They thought it was different and unique. You see what Mel does not always remember is that I am Asian. I grew up on the mean streets of South Vietnam in the blazing heat of the jungle. I know food. I know what sold well in the street food markets and what is suitable for most taste buds. She clearly has questionable tastes. She chose me for her life partner.Driving last night is when I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I made the right decision with Mel. She is always supportive and despite her nickname of no fun Mel, we have had close to 20 years of wonderful times. I know that she carries a heavy burden of worry for both of us as I am too foolish to worry. So she will think of all the what ifs and plan contingency plans. I will go ong for the ride with her and just focus on what I need to in order to rid myself of this chapter in life. I need to get better so I can focus on creating mischief for her until we are old and grey with grandchildren running around.
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