Cupertino

Fall in Northern California is a play on colors. Reds, yellows, oranges and greens dance around on the changing colors of leaves that line the suburban streets. Back in the 1999, I had just graduated from college and was living in my mother's house, working temp jobs here and there. I was twenty two.

One evening, I was picking up Chinese take out for my family. As I waited for my order, I saw a family sitting in a booth, eating their meal. I thought to myself, This is not my life and I cannot have this life. And then I heard inside, a small clause, ...but maybe it would be nice.

Flash forward 9 years, several jobs later, and living in Los Angeles for so long, this little old orchard town that went from apples to Apple looks pretty inviting with its quiet neighborhoods and ample parking space.

Never mind, of course, that the Bay Area is one of the costliest places to live. My mother's little cottage home is now a million dollar property esconced in one of the best public school districts in the nation.

I have no idea if my father had any foresight for this. When we first moved here, we were the only Chinese family in our neighborhood and I was one of two Asian kids in the entire elementary school. We had to drive at least twenty minutes for a Chinese grocery store and the closest Chinese restaurant was tucked away behind a bank near a freeway entrance. Now, yell "Aiya!" and all of Cupertino will respond. Drive around the corner, and you'll probably hit a Camry with a Chinese person behind the wheel. There are a total of four Chinese grocery stores within a five mile radius.

However, not much has changed about Cupertino in some ways. Elderly people still drive very slowly. Teenagers are still sick of its small town ways. And of course, my mom is still here. Not too many things have changed about our house either since my father bought it in 1984.



He is no longer here on Earth anymore, but his memory rests in all of us kids, even though we've obviously grown (and I rarely wear pink!). When I see this photo, I'm reminded of why I like this neighborhood so much -- that an ambitious man fought his way to the top, move over to the America so that not he, but his children, could have some chance of an American dream in a big, white house in the United States.