The Chinese Warrens

I had dinner with my parents, my grandparents, and my great uncle tonight. My grandmother asked me what I wanted for my birthday. My mother said she was proud of her because she didn't even have to remind her that it was my birthday soon. "I want you to write in the journal I gave you," I told her. "What journal?" she said. "The spiral bound one," my mother said. "With the waves on it," I added. She scrunched her face at me. "But, I have nothing to write!" she said. "I don't do anything interesting." "No," I explained. "I gave you a journal and I wrote a question on every page. All you have to do is answer the question." "Oh, okay," she said. Suddenly, it is not such an insurmountable task. "How many questions are there? Is it a hundred pages?" "It's probably more," I said. "But, there's not that many questions. There's a list of questions I...

This is a short story, just because I have to get back in the habit of posting more frequently. My grandparents told me this story back on my 12/30/2009 visit. My grandparents met when my grandfather was in the Navy during World War II, but that story is longer, and for another time. My grandfather was telling me about the perks that he got working as a cook in the Navy at Pearl Harbor. He was a good enough cook that some of the higher ups stole him from the galley and used him for their personal chef. "On our first anniversary, guess what I gave her?" my grandfather asked me with a huge grin on his face. "What did you give her?" I asked him. "They told me it was paper," he said. "So, I bought her a whole case of Kleenex from the ship's service!" My grandmother was in the kitchen washing dishes. I called out to her and asked her if she remembered what my grandfather had gotten her for their first anniversary. She came out of the kitche...