A Day at the Beach --- Haikou, Hainan Province, China
There follows a hodge podge of items placed here as they occurred to me, Freddie Plato, some of them suggested by my brother Richard or my sister Kwanlee. The idea of a blog was my father's, John Napier Plato, Jr. There's not much rhyme or reason here, just a scattershot depiction of random ideas and pictures. The writing so far is mine except for an essay titled Infidelity by brother Richard. I have recently found out that Richard's girlfriend Brenda Lee Craig made him write it as his punishment for getting too chummy with another girl. He's lucky she didn't beat the crap out of him. She could do it. She's my martial arts trainer --- but she loves him too much to beat him up, though she did scare him and he won't stray again. She has a temper. Besides, she's good for Richard. They are in love and we are happy with that. With Brenda in the picture I don't have to be responsible for Richard's discipline. Don't let my name, Freddie, fool you. I'm Richard and Kwanlee's sister, not their brother. I try to be a good sister and I think I succeed most of the time.
Richard, Kwanlee, and I, are siblings, the children of a Chinese business man we never really knew except that Richard knew him slightly because he died when Richard was about eight years old. I was two and Kwanlee had just been born. There are some pictures in here of our ancestral home town, Haikou, Hainan Province, China, a lovely tropical city at the southmost point of China. It is a remarkable town and you will be surprised if you visit there with how almost American it seems in some ways. Richard and Kwanlee were born in Hong Kong and I in San Francisco, so I am the only one who can be president of the United States because I am a "natural-born" citizen.
Most of the pictures were taken on the beach during a visit to Haikou last year, the only one where such a large group of family and friends, including Brenda and Dorrie, have ever met together at one time. Cassie Blankenship is an old friend of mine and her parents were friends of my Chinese father in Hong Kong. Cassie was also at our beach party. You may wonder where the boys were in all this. Aside from my brother Richard there weren't any, though I wish there had been. Richard was very happy with that arrangement and I am between boys and in no hurry.
We three kids were adopted by the most wonderful people alive, Mr. and Mrs. John Napier Plato, Jr. originally of St. Louis, Missouri. I snapped Dad's picture in his driveway. Mom just hasn't wanted her picture published because she's such a private person, but I may get hold of a candid photo of her --- I have one in mind --- and I may be able to persuade her to let me publish it. Richard lets me photograph his feet but not his face. I don't know why. He's really a handsome example of Chinese manhood. Richard is a little weird, as you will find out but he's a great guy and we love him dearly. We just want him to get a real job. I was sure that Richard would want to hide his alcohol problem and the fact that he has been under the care of a psychiatrist Dorrie Lane, who as I said was in China with us. But he wants it known because the rumours are worse than the reality. I think that Richard and Brenda will be married but only when he has clearly knocked off the booze. He's getting there. Dorrie is a laugh a minute, really a very funny gal. My reason for mentioning that Dorrie's sister Lana is adopted is that everyone notices that they are not exactly of the same ethnicity, so why not explain that Lana, who is African-American, is adopted? Mindy Plato was born in Hawaii and had lived on our island in the south Pacific which the family owns until about six months ago when she moved in with us at our home in Florida. Mindy is half Chinese and half Polynesian. While her legal name is not Plato (not yet, at least) it's the name she wants to go by, and we are all honored by that. Mom and Dad are working on adopting her and we all hope they succeed. The Napiers are in every way our parents, our Mom and Dad, and we couldn't be happier with that. We think of Mindy that way and soon we hope that will all be legal. She's legal to us regardless. Also, I should add, we are one hundred percent American. Mindy has the status of resident alien but is working on citizenship.
Richard, Kwanlee, and I, are siblings, the children of a Chinese business man we never really knew except that Richard knew him slightly because he died when Richard was about eight years old. I was two and Kwanlee had just been born. There are some pictures in here of our ancestral home town, Haikou, Hainan Province, China, a lovely tropical city at the southmost point of China. It is a remarkable town and you will be surprised if you visit there with how almost American it seems in some ways. Richard and Kwanlee were born in Hong Kong and I in San Francisco, so I am the only one who can be president of the United States because I am a "natural-born" citizen.
Most of the pictures were taken on the beach during a visit to Haikou last year, the only one where such a large group of family and friends, including Brenda and Dorrie, have ever met together at one time. Cassie Blankenship is an old friend of mine and her parents were friends of my Chinese father in Hong Kong. Cassie was also at our beach party. You may wonder where the boys were in all this. Aside from my brother Richard there weren't any, though I wish there had been. Richard was very happy with that arrangement and I am between boys and in no hurry.
We three kids were adopted by the most wonderful people alive, Mr. and Mrs. John Napier Plato, Jr. originally of St. Louis, Missouri. I snapped Dad's picture in his driveway. Mom just hasn't wanted her picture published because she's such a private person, but I may get hold of a candid photo of her --- I have one in mind --- and I may be able to persuade her to let me publish it. Richard lets me photograph his feet but not his face. I don't know why. He's really a handsome example of Chinese manhood. Richard is a little weird, as you will find out but he's a great guy and we love him dearly. We just want him to get a real job. I was sure that Richard would want to hide his alcohol problem and the fact that he has been under the care of a psychiatrist Dorrie Lane, who as I said was in China with us. But he wants it known because the rumours are worse than the reality. I think that Richard and Brenda will be married but only when he has clearly knocked off the booze. He's getting there. Dorrie is a laugh a minute, really a very funny gal. My reason for mentioning that Dorrie's sister Lana is adopted is that everyone notices that they are not exactly of the same ethnicity, so why not explain that Lana, who is African-American, is adopted? Mindy Plato was born in Hawaii and had lived on our island in the south Pacific which the family owns until about six months ago when she moved in with us at our home in Florida. Mindy is half Chinese and half Polynesian. While her legal name is not Plato (not yet, at least) it's the name she wants to go by, and we are all honored by that. Mom and Dad are working on adopting her and we all hope they succeed. The Napiers are in every way our parents, our Mom and Dad, and we couldn't be happier with that. We think of Mindy that way and soon we hope that will all be legal. She's legal to us regardless. Also, I should add, we are one hundred percent American. Mindy has the status of resident alien but is working on citizenship.
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