Taking his sons to work in the mountains that his own father-in-law began, pioneering, time with the families, translated…
Right before we were married, my wife and I rented an old house, to successfully move ourselves in, we'd asked my father-in-law to come and check the conditions of the place for us, to assist us in the remodeling. Seeing that toilet that hadn't been used in, forever, my wife stated, that we definitely, need a new one, and my father-in-law asked if I knew how to install one? I'd shaken my head no. He'd looked, quite, surprised, like installing a new toilet was like changing a lightbulb.
Later I'd learned, that my father-in-law is an expert in the means of fixing up a place; on the mountains of the suburb he lived, there was, a deserted planting lot, whenever he had the time, he'd gone up the mountains, to get the land more fertile. Took him many years, from zero to now, he'd, planned out and set up a comfy bed and breakfast, and now, it'd become, our favorite place for the, family vacations.
The outdoor restrooms, he'd, set up on his own, my father-in-law had also, set up the pipes, to, get the mountain springs from the back mountain walls to his cabin to use. At the start, to test if the water is, drinkable, he'd, spent the money to get the testing done, and in the end, the quality of the mountain springs was like mineral, water, every time this was mentioned, my father-in-law would start, glowing with that, pompous smile, told us, that the water out back would make the instant noodles taste, even, better!
After I was married, I'd gone on several times with my father-in-law up the mountains, and he would, share all the techniques, skills he'd ac quired, like passing down an heirloom, to me, for instance, which sort of leaves can be used as a mosquito repellent, which fruits are easily grown. At mealtime, he'd picked the mountain dong quai leaves to make the fried eggs with, smoking up the few fish he'd caught in the, nearby, creeks, then, a ready-made meal from the mountains, served, and, the fruits after the meals were even, more, widely, varied.
how the time is shared by the members of the family, getting dirt on their, hands...photo from online
A few years ago as the pandemic heated up, the two boys couldn't go to school anymore, they'd gotten stuck at home to the point of falling ill then, and this made that cabin up in the mountains, away from everything else ever the more, precious. First time we took them up, my youngest, Ge, started freaking because there were bees, flying, all around him, but after a few more times, he became, able to, examine the insects at close-range; we took off the masks, worked out in the, wide and open fields of grasses, took in those breaths of, fresh air, greedily, like we'd, found back our, long lost, freedom, and all of the glooms we'd felt, gone in a, split, second.
"Grandpa who knows how to do everything" became my son's idol, and every chance they got, they'd, circled around him, asking him tons of, questions. Grandpa told of his experiences of operating the "bobcat" to make the roads, talked of how he was able to, deter the killer bees, the pythons from harassing him, the boys who enjoyed the stories, were both excited, and stated that Grandpa's so tough, and grandpa was smiling very hard.
"That's easy, when you're older, I'll, teach you!"
This was, a small surprise during the pandemic, to help the three grandfather and grandsons, who'd, originally not known to interact, to connect more, I'd begun, envying, them, for having a childhood like this now.
And so this is how important families are, to everybody, we'd, started, connecting more with our own loved ones, during the pandemic, because we realized, how unpredictable life is, how fragile life is, and so, we're, bound to, take the advantage of the times we got to share with our, loved ones.
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