This is me, my daughter, and Damon, my oldest friend. Damon's parents, straight from China, opened a grocery market in our little town, and his mom claims that my mom was her first American friend. Damon and I were three years old. My mom invited them for dinner and cooked "Chinese food" for them. As Damon's mom says, it was 'not so good.' I think Damon's mom was happier when my mom stuck to enchiladas, as she had little expectation about what they should taste like.
Damon and I went from kindergarten all the way through high school together. Then he want to U of A and I went to NAU. We still kept in touch and saw each other at the holidays. I went to Tucson when he was in medical school and he showed me the cadaver that had been assigned to him. I still call him for medical advice, and even though I can hear his eyes rolling all down the long distance line, he always gives me an answer, and sometimes even phones in a prescription.
Recently he made a trip back to Arizona, and called to see if I would join him and his family for Dim Sum. My daughter said she'd like to try it too, but was a little hesitant when we arrived at a very large restaurant filled with what seemed like the entire Asian population of Arizona, and sat down at a table filled with jellyfish and chicken feet to eat. It was enjoyable to see Damon's family, and they got to laugh at me (yet again) for giving up on the chopsticks and digging in with my fork.
Often when I was a kid I felt trapped in our small town. I wanted to move, reinvent myself. But now that I'm older I appreciate that there are people who have known me all my life, that share common memories, a common sense of place, no matter how old we grow or how far apart we now live.
