The One Where Autumn Rocks...

I was just telling Amanda the other day how I’ve wanted to write something of worth for quite some time now. There have been persistent hints put forth by my racquetball master, Bruce, and heavy tugging from my guilt-ridden conscience. With us being two weeks into the autumn season, I figured there would be no better time to do it than now – although one can’t really tell by the temperature we’re all sweating in. However, I did enjoy the couple days of cooler weather last week.

It has been my practice to have an entry of some sort whenever it’s this time of year. Even though it’s only temporary reprieve from the humid and balmy weather that is summer, it’s something that brings a renewal of sorts to my complacent life. Most of the time I can attribute it to the commercials on TV, storefronts with autumn decorations, and the changing of colors, but this year it was kick started by the visit of my dad. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it was for my soul to have him visit all of us for almost two weeks. To have him see his two sons’ lives in full motion with the wives in tow, it was truly a blessing. I have always been fond of the simple moments in life where laughter and dialogue are in the forefront of memories. On one particular evening, me and dad just sat and watched football together while I asked him question after question about our family when mom was alive. What incredible circumstances they went through just to secure the future, which is currently an enriched and plentiful life by the world’s standards, for me and Tony. I wonder sometimes if I had even an ounce of bravery of my mom and dad how much of a better Christian I would be. To be as brave and sacrificial as they were and not know with any amount of certainty what the future would hold for all of us, they sure did make some incredibly hard decisions dating back to our days in Taiwan. I won’t go into details here (I've got in the back of my mind that I'll write a mini-autobiography some day, so stay tuned for those aforementioned details), but I know that every day there are these kinds of stories being unfolded in the world. Not that the Kan family is any more special than the next story, but this was a beautiful story told through my dad’s memory, and I took it all in as if I were back in the days where childhood curiosity filtered all of the cares in the world.

There will never be a day where I won’t attribute my best and visible qualities to my mom (my liking of things being clean) and dad (humor), but some missing pieces of the puzzle of how I came to be were revealed to me even more. I am convinced that some of these newfound attributable qualities are what made me even more compatible with Amanda. I am not going to delve into any of these gloat-able qualities, but suffice it to say that I’m glad I was smart enough to let Amanda see those sides of me while we were dating. Enough on this stuff – let’s move on to another subject matter if you will…

While I was preparing dinner one evening this week, I remember Amanda saying in a proud but funny kind of way that the world would be handing her an extra hour of sleep on her birthday. Soon we’ll all be experiencing the short-lived days of autumn sneaking into winter, and I will greet those cooler and crisper days with open arms. The week prior to my dad’s arrival, me and Amanda embarked on this little dream of ours of having rocking chairs in our front porch. On our first date in Albany, we talked for hours on the rocking chairs at my in-laws’ house. And it just so happens that ever since I was in college, I had dreamed of either having a wraparound porch with a swinging bench, or rocking chairs on a porch at my first home. How old and senior of me eh? Well the latter came true as of a few weeks ago – only two years after purchasing this house (mild sarcasm - I'm sorry that it took this long Amanda). Me and Amanda have talked about sitting out there for hours on-end during the long summer days and watching our kids play with their neighborhood friends whilst sipping sweet tea and lemonade. The condensation of the cold drinks slowly dripping; crickets cricketing; all the while we grow older together with each pendulum of the rocking chairs. Granted those days have already passed this year, but they will be replaced with hot tea or cocoa while the leaves fall and float through the cool and crisp air. And those kids I speak of, they're coming whenever God sees fit.

I often escape into happy thoughts of being cold outside and then coming into our warm home with autumn or Christmas scents seeping into every fiber of my being. It’s a place where I imagine one day that little Henry and Amanda will begin their own sweet and warm memories. This time of year, memories of family rush into my head as I watch special movies that are near and dear to me. My face ablaze with happiness as the warm glow of the fireplace crackling and my ever-aging body adorned with comfortable PJs underneath a blanket. Life simply doesn’t get better than this for me. So as the days get shorter, I can’t help but get tickled fancy at the thought of me getting older and older with a wife that seemingly ages younger and younger. Can’t wait to rock with you…

~KH

FYI - I've uploaded some new pictures from when dad was here and some from recent past. Check out the slideshow.