03-24-2024 Chinese Version Sunday，Cloudy San Jose
Sarah is a nanny who comes to take care of my two grandchildren once a week. My grandson Ben often says: “Sarah Ayi” because he likes her very much.
Last week, Sarah gave us a cake she baked. While greeting each other in the kitchen and dining room area, she pointed at the cake and said to me: “This cake goes well with coffee.” I looked at the dark brown juicy cake with a mouth full of saliva and said: “I am currently intermittent fasting and I will have my first meal at 11 o’clock.” When Sarah heard this, she happily replied: “I am also intermittent fasting.”
I was curious about her fast, so I sat with her on the couch in the living room and chatted for a while when my grandchildren were taking their afternoon naps. I told Sarah: “I started intermittent fasting in the summer of 2021 during COVID. I fasted for 16 hours a day and only ate two meals.” Sarah said: “I started intermittent fasting at the beginning of this year and I only ate one meal.” It sounds like that that Sarah’s fasting is more challenging than mine, as eating only one meal a day is harder than eating two meals a day. Sarah asked me: “How many days do you fast every week?” I smiled and said: “Five days of fasting and two days of cheating.” She also smiled and said: “I also cheat for two days. I haven’t eaten rice since February 14th, I have to wait until March 28th to eat rice.” I said, “Wow, I like rice very much, but I used to have no rice at dinner. After I started intermittent fasting, I ate rice every night.It has been almost three years and my body weight is very stable. ” Sarah said that she also likes rice. Sarah told me that she was once keen on boxing, but after her waist injury, her doctor advised her to stop boxing. She said: “Practicing boxing helped me lose more than 20 pounds. Look, I purposely wearing the same clothes to take photos before and after practicing boxing.” I looked at her obviously slim figure after practicing boxing in the photo and said wholeheartedly: “You are so capable! I can only walk and jog.” Sarah said: “We have to take good care of our health so we don’t burden our children.” I nodded in agreement at her thought about others.
Sarah pays great attention to protect her skin from the sunlight, by wearing a wide sun hat every time she takes my grandchildren out. This always reminds me of WL, who also liked to wear a similar sun hat, a memory of almost 20 years ago when my son and her son attended the same class at Greystone Elementary School in Almaden Valley San Jose. Sarah, who is already 40 years old, looks like she is only 30 years old,
She said that since their children are grown up, she and her husband can go hiking every weekend, and they often go on dates. She joked: “The relationship between husband and wife needs to be nourished as well.” She showed me a video of her singing for her daughter at her 18th birthday celebration party. She told me: “I sang the song that I have sung to her since she was a baby.” I said, “You have a beautiful voice. Did you practice singing before?” She said, “No, I just like singing.” I smiled and said, “I like to listen to people sing.” I saw the scene in the video where she wiped her tears at the end of singing and thought she has a soft heart. I said: “Look at the video, I see you held a big birthday celebration party for your daughter!” She said: “Yes, it was held at a club near our home. The 18th birthday of a Filipino girl is very important.” Her explanation reminded me of girls’ 16th birthday is called “Sweet Sixteen” in the United State, a custom I heard and saw in Massachusetts a few years ago.
I showed Sarah a photo of Kara, our cat in Waltham, and she said she had a cat in the Philippines, even though she was allergic to both cats and dogs. She also showed me some photos of a small weekend project that she was very proud of. She repainted a worn-out wooden chair given by a neighbor，made it into a brand new chair, and placed it in her beautiful garden. I felt the chair is a great addition to her garden, as I enjoyed sitting on chairs in gardens. She enjoys gardening, cooking, baking creatively, and selling homemade Filipino food sometimes.
I told her I am retired and like writing short stories. I showed her my “Puddle of Gold” homepage and told her: “This website was built for me by my daughter. The header image was taken by me, a photo of a mother taking pictures of her daughter among the blooming yellow flowers outside of Filoli Garden.” Because this was the first time she heard of Filoli, Sarah quickly searched for this garden online using her iPad in her hand. I told her: “This garden is beautiful in spring. Earlier this year, the meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Biden was held in Filoli’s hall.” I was very happy to tell another flower lover about my favorite garden.
After chatting, I really liked Sarah, who is considerate, has many hobbies and is capable, so I asked her if I could write a story about her. She happily agreed, and we even took a photo to be included in this story.
Little Episodes
（The photos from left to right, top to bottom: the cake Sarah gave us, the desk where I drank coffee and ate the cake, and the grass in front of the Waltham house grew in late March. A photo of Sarah and me. In late March, the small white flowers in Waltham and the colorful spring flowers in San Jose.）
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In July 2021, I felt very good after 50 days of intermittent fasting. I wrote a story to commemorate my mother who paid great attention to eating well and staying health throughout her life.