Let's Make a Deal

Two weeks ago we bought a minivan named Fred. Louis adores it--and not just because it has a CD player.

He was less enthusiastic, however, about getting rid of the car he has come to know as "Baba's car." And I admit that I am a bit attached to it too. When I brought the now-15-year-old car to our marriage nearly seven years ago, it had been in our family since its early days. The car wasn't just used when I got it from my dad. It even came with a name--Borbi, Jr. (with origins too complicated to explain here)--a dent in the hood, and a college sticker on the window. I have commuted in that car to four different jobs, and easily traveled more than 150,000 miles. My sister Maureen was almost as disappointed as Louis when she heard Borbi, Jr., would be moving on.

(Of course, she didn't glare at me the way her nephew did when I tried to take his picture with the car.)

Fortunately, when we were celebrating Chinese New Year with our friends Amy and Jon and their children, Stephanie and Ewen, we mentioned we were planning to get rid of the car. Stephanie is about to start driving, and Jon and Amy were immediately interested in buying the car for her. Last week when I e-mailed Amy to see if they actually wanted it, she wrote back with hard questions like "Is it an automatic?" and we struck a deal.

The best part of the deal? We had to meet in person to do the exchange.

And that meant lunch--with twisty straws and crafts Amy packed.

And bubbles (again, brought by Amy).

And time for our boys to play.

With lunch behind them, Ewen and Louis were full of energy and ready to get to work.

Play is serious business, and Amy had also brought along some outdoor toys.

What did we bring? Well...we remembered to bring Louis and the car.



Ewen and Louis have been friends for almost a year since we first met Ewen and his mom in person last April. Amy and I had been friends a bit longer, of course, since we had stalked each other online while bringing our sons home from China. Still, it feels as if we have known each other much longer.

And watching our boys together, I couldn't help thinking that it's hard to believe we don't see each other more often. They just slip so naturally into their boy fun.

They used Ewen's plastic golf clubs to whack a tree.

The choke-cherry tree took quite a beating, but it handled it just fine.

And, thanks to my son's exuberance, one of the golf clubs didn't make it home intact. But Ewen is a really sweet boy, and he didn't seem too upset by the damage.

Louis could have shown a bit more remorse, but he was too busy enjoying the day. "Mama, I'm having fun!" he told me.

You can probably tell that much just to look at his eyes.

It will be fun to see how these two get along as they get older. Right now their personalities seem to work well together, even with their age difference. They are both creative and focused in their play. And, of course, since Louis is almost a year younger, he thinks Ewen is terrific--which he is.

It was hard to tell whether Ewen was in as much awe of Louis. I mean, our son broke a golf club, spilled half of the bubbles, and wasn't completely successful using his utensils at lunchtime. But he does know how to have a good time.

I didn't hear Ewen complaining.

In a rare moment, the two boys--having recently returned from their pirate invasion game with their fathers--agreed to sit together on a picnic bench and pose for a photo.



That yellow bottle of bubbles that Louis is holding?

That's the one Ewen gave him to take home.

It was Ewen's idea--not his mom or dad's.

Will these two good-looking fellows be friends forever? It's hard to say. But as long as there are trees to whack, bubbles to blow, and pirate invasions to invent, you can bet they'll still enjoy hanging out together.

And, even though I'm betting that Borbi, Jr., still has quite a few miles left in her, I'm absolutely certain their friendship will outlast even a Toyota engine.

And I'm counting on another 200,000 miles there.