Segue 1: The Wonder Niece And Wonder Nephew

So before I start talking about Day 2 in the next post, wanted to take this time to talk more about Ina and Renzo, whom I have talked about previously in my previous posts. I was really looking forward to seeing the two of them in this trip, for somewhat different reasons for the most part, but ultimately for the same reason, really.

Renzo and his mother, Ate Michelle, have come to visit us in New York/New Jersey roughly every 3 years, and I always have fond memories of them. He was about 3 or 4 when he first came to visit us, and we were still living in the Upper East Side back then. I remember going to the Bronx Zoo with him, recall my dad giving him a huge bag of chocolate every few days and buying a carton of chocolate milk for him every day, and all of us ordering delivery from Pizzeria Uno where he sampled his dish and mine and decided his was better and he was gonna keep it.

About 3 years later, he and his mom came to visit again, and by that time my folks had moved to New Jersey, and I was in Astoria already. My sister was in town from Rochester as well (or had she moved to Gainesville already? I forget), since it was Easter Weekend. We had the little guy do an Easter Egg Hunt in my folks' backyard, and after finding the ones my sister hid ("hid" is a strong phrase, she just scattered her candy on the lawn, like a squirrel), and the ones I hid (which were a bit harder to find, I put them in the bushes, branches, etc.), he asked us if we can hide them again, and tells my sister to make it "harder, but not too hard". Ha. Halfway through Round 2, he comes up to me and says he will finish looking for the rest of the candy later, he's going to take a break at that point and eat the ones he had found.

Another 3 or 4 years later (just this past April actually), they come visit again, and this time, the little guy who I was carrying around the Nighttime Creatures Exhibit of the Bronx Zoo was now 11 years old, almost as tall as me and probably could beat me up in a fight. He did see snow for the first time, so that was awesome.

I was looking forward to seeing him again, because the kid is always fun to see. I see where he's coming from a lot, and we share similar interests as well. From the time he was 3 years old, you could tell this kid is brilliant, especially when he decides to show or focus it, and nothing in this visit really changed my mind about that.

Ina, on the other hand, I had not seen since my last visit in June 1994, when she was all of about 6 months old. She was such a cutie baby. Her hair was standing up all the time, and every morning, I would read her the newspaper in "storytime" fashion (like they said in Three Men And A Baby, "it's not what you read to them, it's how you read it to them). I did not have the pleasure of seeing her every few years like I did with Renzo, so I was really curious to see how she was.

Ina, I am very proud to say, is now a lovely, graceful, and elegant young lady. She is a young adult now for all intents and purposes, and the short "adult conversations" I was able to have with her were quite fun. I'll never forget going to her family's house, and watching her practice her piano perfectly while her two little brothers were going crazy around her playing. I couldn't help but get flashbacks of Nonoy and I subjecting her mother to the same treatment back in the day, ha.

But honestly, I was very impressed with Ina, and you can tell just by her talking to her that this kid is brilliant in her own way as well. AND, her favorite subject in class is Statistics. Statistics! Someone with Defensor blood who likes math???? That just tells you all you need to know about how smart this kid is.

Anyways, ultimately, I was really looking forward to seeing the both of them because I am really looking forward to seeing them continue to grow up because I think it'll be spectacular. Both are smart as hell and very gifted. While I am looking forward to "adult conversations" with them in a few years, I am enjoying the journey towards that point more.