On Saturday morning, my parents called five times. Normally, they call me on Sunday mornings, but ever since they spent a week at my apartment, my mom has been calling me whenever she felt like it. It was really starting to peeve me (can you tell I’m someone who needs my space?).
I was at a training event so I didn’t pick up the phone. On the sixth call, I finally picked up and hissed, “Stop calling me! I’m busy!”
“Oh, I thought you just hadn’t woken up yet.”
“No, I’m up. I’m at a training event. Call me tomorrow!” Then I hung up.
So this morning, they called again. Even though I was working on my take-home exam, I picked up, like promised.
“We’re going back to China.”
What? Is this a joke? Is this just to spite me because I didn’t want to talk yesterday?
My parents, unlike the parents of some of my friends, are not the kind to suddenly decide to go back to China. They are not impulsive, they love their home here, and they hate change. Sometimes, these attributes can be quite frustrating, but more often than not, I appreciate that I have the most dependable parents in the world. Until now.
“What do you mean you’re going back to China? Both of you?”
“Well, your grandmothers (mom and dad’s side) are feeling ill. Plus, both our companies are very unstable right now. We might as well use up our vacation before they fire us.”
“So, you are planning to come back?”
“Well, yes, at the moment. But your father’s company can’t get financing and my company is all over the news with its recall, so if it seems like we won’t have jobs when we come back, then we might stay in China a little longer.”
Well, at least I know it’s not my fault. It’s the fault of the economy. The economy is literally driving them away. If they do both lose their jobs, I will be screwed. Law school costs are ridiculously high, there are no such things as full scholarships, I don’t even think there are such things as scholarships for international students, and I have no guarantor in the U.S. so it will be difficult to get a loan that large.
This weekend, I will go back to The City to see my parents, then next week they will abandon me and our dog, and fly halfway around the world. Stupid economy.
As for what I said earlier about them being the most dependable parents in the world. Once every decade or so, they do make drastic changes. I don’t know if it’s because of hormones, mid-life crises, alignment of the stars, or what have you. About ten years ago, I came home one day to a living room filled with technological gadgets. They had suddenly decided they needed to keep up with the times and replaced every piece of technology in our house for fear that it was going to be obsolete. Five years ago, I came home one day to a living room covered in floor plans. They had suddenly decided they wanted to buy a new home, and not just any new home, a new home the size of a mansion. They argued that my future husband and I, and our imaginary baby, would each need rooms. “I will never, ever live with you when I get married,” I told them flatly.
So yes, once in a blue moon, my mother and father will actually agree wholeheartedly with each other on some major, drastic change, even though they can fight for hours over the most insignificant decisions.
Thus is married life I suppose.
