As
usual, I got up early in the morning. I lit up the candle on the altar and
prayed for our family members who had passed away to keep their eyes on us, to
give us a blessed day full of peace and happiness. I logged on to the computer,
and turned on Chopin classical music, at a high volume, loud enough to go
through to the bedroom where Dan was still dreaming. I started to exercise.
After that, I checked e-mail, read aloud the “word of the day,” “Today History
News” and “Local News,” “Daily Horoscope,” and wrote a ten-minute free- writing
journal entry. I tiptoed to the bedroom.
Dan
opened his eyes; with a sleepy voice, he greeted me, “Good morning, My Dear. I
love the music that calms me down. Your reading is beautiful. Your voice is loud
and clear.”
I
was surprised, “Did you hear my reading? I thought you slept deeply.”
He
nodded, “Yes, Baby! Although I sleep, I know what you are doing.”
I
lay down next to Dan. He embraced me; my head leaned on his chest; my eyes half
closed; unconsciously, I played with the hair on his chest and neck. He
murmured into my ear, “I wish every morning, when I wake up, I will see you
next to me. Even when you are in the living room, I hear your sounds and know
that you are there. You fill up my emptiness, Honey.”
We
cuddled.
Dan
counted as he exercised: “One, two, three, four, five, sex. Sexercise!”
I
laughed. We often played jokes while Dan did his morning exercises, in order to
motivate him to exercise more.
Dan
finished his exercise at the same I finished making breakfast. Dan called me:
“Honey, I am sweating a lot. I don’t like it.”
I
took his hand and led him to the couch, let him sit on the couch, and slowly
dried his sweat. Dan kissed me and cooed, “Thank you, Honey. You make me happy.
You are the best woman in the world and the perfect wife.”
My
eyes smiled with him. He said, “Honey, I am the luckiest man in the world. You
are so beautiful. I see love in your beautiful eyes.”
We
fed each other like babies.
Dan
ate very slowly. While waiting for him to finish his breakfast, I stood up and
shook my body, following the music. Dan watched me dancing. He left his spoon
on the plate and moved toward me. He started dancing. Both of us were dancing;
we sang, “Shake, shake, shake our body! Shake, shake, shake our body! That
makes us healthy!”
We
turned around. The music stopped. Dan glued a long passionate kiss on my lips.
Dan showed me a piece of paper and said, “Honey, look! This is the list of
things that I need to do today.”
I
told him, “It’s fine, Dan. Today is Sunday; you don’t need to do anything. Your
job is to clean the table. That’s all. This afternoon you have three hours of
online teaching. That’s too much for you. I don’t expect you to do anything
today.”
Dan
replied, “I know, but I want to show I am a good husband.”
I
answered him, “Thank you, Dan.”
I
cleaned up in the kitchen for about an hour. I had not heard any sound. It was
very quiet in the living room. I wondered what Dan was doing. I entered the
living room. Dan was not there. On the table, my sunglasses were on a piece of
paper with a big note: “Your glasses were repaired by Dan, your Man.”
Yesterday,
we went to the Madrona Marsh Preserve in Torrance; a part of my sunglasses
broke and fell off. Dan fixed it for me. I wore my glasses and sang, “Dan, Dan,
Dan!”
No
answer.
I
sang with a high tone, “Dan, Dan, Dan! Where are you?”
I
went to the back and kept singing, “Dan, Dan, Dan! Where is my Man? Dan, my
Man, where are you? I miss you. Where is my Man? Where is my Man?”
From
the room in the back of the house, Dan sang to reply to me (to the tune of Frere Jacques), “Honey, here I am! Here
I am! I’m in the back room! I’m in the back room!”
I
entered the messy room. Dan put junk and old things in a big black bag and told
me, “Honey, I am cleaning up the room. You are right. I need to donate or throw
away old things that I don’t need.”
I
blissfully asked him, “Are you sure? Do you really want to throw them away?”
Dan
nodded, “Yes, Honey!”
I
doubted, “Promise me not to complain or tell your friends that I want to throw
away your souvenirs.”
Dan
said with a sad voice, “Honey, in the past, I quarreled with you about cleaning
up the house, so you do not trust me. Sorry about that. You help me a lot. You
make the house clean, neat, and beautiful. Your touch gives our nest its soul.”
I
told him, “You make me happy. You have changed a lot. I am proud of you. Do you
need help?”
I
helped Dan take old furniture and clothes to the front gate at the driveway;
homeless people would take them soon.
We
were tired. We sat on the couch. Dan caressed me. He said, “Thank you for
coming to America, my Yellow Flower.”
I
sang, “They come to America! Today! Today! Today!”
Dan
searched You Tube, and found “They
Come to America” by Neil Diamond, with the printed lyrics on the screen. We
looked at the text and sang together.
I
suggested, “Dan, why don’t we make a video for us?”
Dan
agreed, “Good idea, Honey!”
I
gave Dan a camera. While I set up the screen on the laptop, Dan set up the
camera to choose a good angle to film us. We held hands, raised a small
American flag, and waved the flag left to right, and right to left. We shook
our bodies left to right and right to left; back and forth. We were singing,
clapping, laughing, cooing, kissing, and caressing.
--For
Dan, with all my love,
Anhthao
Bui
July
30, 2013
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