All Mr. W wanted for Father’s Day was to get rid of his kids. His son was already at mom’s, and we dropped off his daughter there also, right before he and I went to meet up with my parents and maternal grandmother at Sam Woo Restaurant for Chinese seafood. Mr. W never had Chinese seafood before, so I treated the most exotic stuff they had on the menu. Jellyfish, shark fin soup, sea cucumber, among some of the more normal stuff, Chinese broccoli, pepper beef, clams, steamed fresh whole fish. Mr. W was at first hesitant to try the sea cucumbers (sauteed in baby bok choy and shitake mushrooms), remembering them from when he used to scuba dive, but gave in and enjoyed them after I said, “Oh, come on! You ate a live worm in Peru!” One of my and my parents’ favorite things about Mr. W is his willingness to try new and different stuff. He doesn’t have to like them, but at least this way he knows for sure whether or not he likes something.

As we were drinking our dessert soups, my mom and dad had a conversation in Mandarin about what the first thing is that my dad’s going to do as soon as he gets home. Then they turned to Mr. W and my mom said, “See, after 30 years of marriage, I know him so well that I know what he’s going to do as soon as he gets home, and he only has to say one word and I already know what he’s thinking.” My dad, addressing Mr. W and not my mom, said, “After 30 years of marriage, I’ve learned to just let her think she knows me and that she’s right. It’s easier just to make her happy.” My mom again addressed Mr. W without looking at my dad, “I’m just pretending to be happy to make things easier, so he thinks he’s successful at making me happy.”

My parents are such goofballs.