A Note.

From one of my elderly clients:

Hello my dear Tiffany ! NEHOMA??? Thanks so much for such a nice picture, dinosaur is a crispy nice costume, especially home tailored hand made as your, I like it. Why I did not think of one like that on halloween? .... How much I missed your last class! It really broke my heart.
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1. Sometimes I'm not sure how to feel when non-Asians say "ni how ma" to me. I've heard this multiple times mostly as a pick-up line or as a conversation starter. But I know my client is just being sweet and trying to relate. After all, how many times do I say "gracias" to the burrito man? [Sidenote: One time a guy asked me if I liked soy sauce and pointed at himself. I hurried into the bathroom and laughed out loud.]

2. Yes, I was a crispy dinosaur for Halloween. Maybe I should've dressed up as a dino nugget.

3. I wonder if it's a cultural thing, but I've noticed most of my Latino friends are very dramatic and exaggerate about the state of things. If he weren't 75, I would've been tempted to snap my fingers and say, "BOY, that did NOT break yo heart!" But it's coo. His note was very sweet and written with good intentions.

4. I wish I were wittier. What's a better response than, "No, no! It broke MY heart to not see you!"?