Ipoh White Coffee

Tonight I am thinking about Ipoh white coffee and the monkeys calling to us from the cliffs behind How King's house.  I am thinking of how the tile felt on my bare feet and the humidity of the jungle seeping through all the windows.  I am remembering the morning chants coming from houses and the smell of incense burning in the Aunt How King's Buddhist temple.  I am thinking that a year ago I was in my father's homeland.  I am thinking about how my Auntie was insistent that we eat and eat and eat. 

No thank you Auntie, I don't really eat breakfast.

Okay, Emily, you get shoes on, we go eat now.

No really Auntie, I am good with just this banana and coffee.  I'm not hungry.

Okay, Emily, you finish your banana, and we go eat.  Fetch Timothy!

(Enter Timothy from the staircase)  Good morning Timothy! We are going to eat now. 

Oh, I really just need a cup of coffee Auntie.

Okay, then we go eat.  You and Emily put shoes on, and we go eat... Come...  Robert?

I miss you cousins, aunts and uncles.  I loved getting to know your lives and culture.  I carry all of you with me every day.  And when I get out my tea kettle to boil water and drink Ipoh White Coffee out of my Ten-Good mug, I think of my brother Timothy and our great adventure last year.

It is my bedtime here in Oklahoma and my cousins are at work on a Wednesday morning (or school, Kin Kin).  The sun is bright on their side of the planet and my thoughts are with them.  I will dream of their flowers and rain and jungles and monkeys and food and cities and beaches...but most of all, I will dream of my family.