A Visit With Ba Ngoai

It has almost been two months since I've seen my mother so I decided on a whim today to give her a call and see if she was home. I've been thinking about her because I haven't seen her much since her stroke earlier this year. I always pray for her health but have done little to see how she has been doing. Despite the good weather, she was at home around noon. So Tallan and I headed out for a quick visit between naps. We'd only be there for about an hour, but of course she was very happy to see us anyway.

I brought MacDonald's to save her from going through the trouble of making lunch for us (whatever I could get without getting out of the car) and Tallan went about exploring while we ate. He was immediately drawn to Ba Ngoai's big button phone. It was good to see my mom again - she wore her typical mismatched pajamas which made me smile. I've missed her.

Ba Ngoai ended up playing tug of war with Tallan trying to put the phone back on the hook. I think Tallan was dialing Saudi Arabia...

Ba Ngoai tried to distract Tallan with a VHS tape. It worked for a moment.

Tallan really wanted a bite of Ba Ngoai's fish burger, but I said no fish until after his first birthday so mom kept it out of his mouth. She was really surprised by how strong Tallan was as he tried to redirect her burger into his mouth.

So distancing Tallan from the fish, we put him on the floor to play with his toys, but Tallan was more interested in the burger box...of course.

After half an hour of exploring, I wanted to take Tallan out for some fresh air as mom's apartment is almost as tiny as ours. We decided to head to the playground outside in the courtyard at my mom's apartment building. It was nice and no one else was there. We played on the usual faves - the swing, the slide, the spring toys.

But an hour goes by quickly and Tallan started rubbing his eyes so it was time to say goodbye to Ba Ngoai.

"Goodbye Ba Ngoai - take care til next time!" We hope you can stick around for another 72 years.