Yee Reunion, Chapter 2

L to R: Cindy, Helen, me

Yee reunion, Chapter 2.

While I was in Los Angeles meeting up with the Vancouver Yees, Helen messaged me and said she would be in Oakland and Yosemite after the Fourth of July. She asked if I'd be available.

Me: Yes!!! I last saw Helen in 1982, not long after my Ohio State graduation and hers from Ohio Dominican College.

On Saturday, July 6 (Helen's birthday), she and her girlfriend Cindy, drive in to San Francisco from their Yosemite trip. They take me up on my offer to stay in the spare empty bedroom (with Aerobed) in lieu of a hotel. I order Thai for delivery to give us more time to catch up.

Cindy has never been to San Francisco and wanted to see the touristy spots. I hate crowds and didn't want to contend with weekend traffic. Happy medium found. Booked online a private 4-hour tour with Viator, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor.

Well worth the cost.

We started on 19th Avenue across the Golden Gate Bridge, got our picture taken (see above photo). Once we came back across the Golden Gate Bridge, I had the driver take us pretty much in this order: Presidio, Palace of Fine Arts, Marina Green, Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard Street, North Beach, Chinatown, Union Square, Japantown, Alamo Square, the Castro, Haight Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, and Ocean Beach.

Ended the day with an early dinner of yummy udon and tempura across the street from my place.

It's my hope my next Yee gathering will be a reunion in Columbus with the Cleveland cousins, Sherman, Kat and son, and the Vancouver cousins.

Yee Family Pride

2019 Columbus Ohio Pride Day Parade
Helen is on the far left

No entries for the past 2 weeks.

June 7: Spent the day in Modesto at McHenry Lanes bowling the 5-game Peach Classic Tournament.

June 14: On the road returning from a weekend trip to Los Angeles to meet long lost cousins from Vancouver who were in town for a family reunion.

Which leads into today's blog entry, my childhood friend, Helen Yee. While I was in Los Angeles having dim sum with the Yee family from Vancouver, Helen was leading the Columbus LGBT Pride parade. We couldn't have been more proud of her.

Helen and I grew up together. Our moms were longtime mahjong friends. We are only a week apart in age. Helen and the Yee cousins from Vancouver are first cousins. Helen's late dad Peter and my cousins' mom, Fong, are brother and sister. Their father Jack and my mom Susan, are first cousins. Uncle Jack's father and my mom's father are brothers.

It had been 45+ years since I last saw the Yees. Not only did we catch up, they showed me pictures from their 2010 China Trip that included a trip to Guangdong province. They visited the homes of where Uncle Jack's and Mom's families lived, and where Mom was born.

Up until last weekend, I knew very little about Mom's time before she came to the United States. This visit and seeing those pictures filled a big void.

As I reach the end of another decade next week, it's more important than ever for me to stay connected to my family roots.