For those who read How to Make a Life and ask about the family, all members of my adopted, extended family are doing well.
Tenzin Kalsang is still working, no surprise, but her husband Migmar looks after the grandkids on various days and explores Madison’s trail by bike. Tenzin and Migmar share their home with their daughter Lhadon, who works as a nursing assistant, and with her husband Dechen, from Nepal, who works with mentally ill persons. Their son and my godchild, little Namsey, is ready to start 4-year old kindergarten.
Of the three brothers, Tamdin and his partner Tseten live in Chicago. Tamdin is now a Registered Nurse, having graduated during the pandemic year, and Tseten works as a nurse as well. Oldest son Namgyal does driving for the University of Wisconsin Hospitals, and his wife Lhakpa is a nurse in a nearby suburb. Namgyal and Lhakpa’s two children, Choesang and Jamphel, the oldest grandchildren of Tenzin and Migmar, attend elementary school and also go to Tibetan Saturday School, where their aunt is a teacher. “I’m not in the book,” complains Jamphel.
Thardoe and his wife have a toddler, baby Jigdrel. The couples except Tamdin and Tseten all live in Madison, so the cousins get together for boisterous play dates. Their Aunt Namdol and Uncle Nyima live nearby too, and their two kids, Lhakhu and Tritsun, add to the energy of any cousin gathering.
I see them a couple times a month. It’s easy to stop by for tea, to go for a walk in a park, or to go to Deer Park Tibetan Buddhist Center for a celebration. When my sister Susan and I invite the family for dinner, we end up with 20 people around the table, without even adding any additional friends or neighbors.