Paint A Flower On Your Lawn

Packing up Wong's parents' home was a bit of a surreal experience. I mean, if you walk into any of the childhood homes of one your best friends, you're going to feel some emotion and certainly when you enter that home with the intent of packing up items so that they can be moved away, it's going to kind of shape the tone of those feelings. I don't want to come off too dramatic in this case. That home and those memories very much belong to the Wongs. While I do have treasured memories there, it's a drop in the ocean compared to how the Wongs themselves must be feeling as they continue this transition to a new chapter of their lives. 

It was a little sad to pick up these items one by one and walk them out to a pod to prep them to move across the country, sure, but I use the word surreal on purpose. Over the years, amongst that close group of friends, we've spent time socially in just about everyone's home, you know? That said, the Wong home has always kind of served as a hub for all of us for as long as I remember. That's a testament to the warmth and kindness of Alex and his family, but we've also spent a great deal of time there without Alex even being home. This house, whether it asked to be or not, was kind of the unofficial home of the family I chose and while it certainly wasn't where I grew up, it was definitely where we grew up as friends. To return to that place with those same friends after life had pulled us all in such different directions put a lot of that growth in perspective. It was powerful. I was grateful to be a part of that day as much I've been grateful to be able to consider the Wong house a second home for the past 12 years.