Wednesday, June 14, 2006

A 2nd Home

So Cha, Leesha, their mother, and I are teaming up to buy the house directly behind ours across the alley. It's a nice three-bedroom townhome completely updated, but I'd always imagined a second home in the Yucatan or perhaps in some Italian hill town and not here in Towson. The idea is to get my in-laws out of their dumpy digs in the country and into a nice house where there won't be 1.5 acres of grass to mow, continous problems with the well water, no heat, a sagging kitchen floor in danger of collapse, etc. Plus, we want them closer to the stores and nearer to hospitals. My in-laws have valuable land up in the boonies but Ma doesn't want to sell because Pa may take the money and bet it all on cockfights in Manila. Since Pa is trying to force her to sell he keeps sabotaging her efforts to buy a house. That's why we're doing this behind his back. We close on June 23rd.

Many friends have given me quizzical glances when I tell them my in-laws will be living right behind us, as though the idea were somehow dangerously stupid. I don't care, because Arcy makes the best pansit, chicken adobo, bibinka, ginger chicken, etc. Julio said we're building Little Manila in the heart of Towson.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We still need a plan to make Move Like Seamus the "Asian Band of Choice" in the Baltimore-DC area.

Colonizing Towson is a step down that road.

Or maybe You, me, and Pat should start a trio? You could play bass, I could play guitar, and Pat could sing. Hmmmm....

Geoff said...

Testing...

Geoff said...

Wow, a trio! It's a Patricia dream.

Exactly the same in the Philippines. There can be four or five generations--including all offshoots of all offspring--in one compound. Distant cousins are often very close personally, etc.