Keeper's Birthday

June of 2026 was as packed as could be. And for the cherry on top, we ended the month with a celebration of Peter’s birthday. As an ode to his longtime love of being the center of attention, we are dedicating this blog post to his big day. As he inches ever closer to 40, so grows his curmudgeonliness. For this special occasion, however, he was amenably bubbly and happy.

Peter typically is not a fan of big surprises. His younger sister, Jackie, reached out to me weeks prior to see if we should plan anything. We were thinking maybe a simple dinner and hitting up his favorite dessert: shaved ice. Naturally, Jackie and I wanted to do something fun and thoughtful for him. But because he does not like surprises, were we to invite him in on the planning? Would that end up causing him more stress with more things to do? Further, he would be up in Fresno for work the week prior and would not be returning until Saturday. Whenever he takes these trips to Fresno, he spends the remainder of his return weekend diligently preparing for the week ahead. It seemed unwise to involve him in planning, but also unnerving to plan a big surprise.

Ultimately, we figured dinner with dessert at home would be very little hassle. It would fit well into his preordained schedule albeit with a little ruckus. Even better was the fact that he was actually able to escape Fresno on Wednesday evening instead of staying until Saturday! With a few days recouped back in SoCal, he would not be so stressed for the following week. We thus proceeded with the plan for family dinner and dessert at his parents’ place. Peter’s parents were unfortunately unavailable on Saturday evening, so we decided on Sunday.

Sunday arrived quicker than anticipated, and soon enough we were over and having dinner. We would be having his favorite dish, bún riêu, a Vietnamese noodle soup with a tomato-based broth. Growing up, I really didn’t like this dish, and thought I never would until I had his mom’s. Many Vietnamese dishes can have such a strong edge to them, and this one’s no different. However, his mom’s take on it is light and not overwhelming. Once we had our fill of noodles and soup, it was time for dessert.

Dessert was a multi-course ordeal. We started with watermelon, his favorite fruit and very fitting for summer. Then, Jackie brought out the great reveal. It would be the most thoughtfully and beautifully designed cake to capture Peter’s essence. The cake was two layers of vanilla sheet cake sandwiching a lemony jam all neatly tucked under an endearing screen print of his likeness. We took many photos of and with the cake before cutting into it. “Keepers” is the endearing name his nephew gave him when he couldn’t yet pronounce Peter. After helping ourselves to cake, it was time to enjoy some mochi from a popular store here in SGV, brought by Patrick and his girlfriend. The store specializes in freshly made mochi with some interesting flavors. They even brought one with durian filling!

Patrick and his girlfriend soon left, though we stayed to chit chat awhile longer. I don’t think either of us are into big celebrations, especially for birthdays. It was nice to just have an intimate evening with his family. As his parents are often out of town, we are happy to spend more time (especially for momentous occasions such as this) with them. With Peter’s descent into his geriatric years, it’s a stark reminder that our parents are also getting older. The celebration of Peter’s aging is also a nod to the good fortune we are blessed with: healthy parents and close relationships.

The evening came to a slow wrap but Sunday would only be part one of Peter’s birthday. Monday was his actual birth date. We rushed through work so that we could head over to his parents’ place for dinner again. Peter’s day ends at 3:30 PM so he headed over first to discuss several issues with them. I’d head over at 6:00 PM when I finished my clinic. We had left over bún riêu. I’m a big believer in that soups always taste just as good or better the day after when all the flavors really meld together. In almost a similar fashion as the day prior, we engorged ourselves with watermelon and birthday cake thereafter. The left-over mochi was unfortunately hardened and lost its appeal.

Part two of Peter’s birthday was much shorter but just as sweet. His bedtime alarm went off at 8:00 PM and in total Peter fashion, he jumped out of his chair to exit. His parents had a good chuckle about Peter’s strict adherence to (early) bedtimes. They even joked about how difficult it’ll be to maintain that bedtime routine should we have kids! So true. And with that, we concluded Peter’s 38th rotation around the sun (which he seemed to thoroughly enjoy).