The Newest Member of The Jade Brigade

I had a wonderful (albeit quick) visit with my dear friend, Mykail yesterday. He was in town (up from Southern Cal) teaching a drum corps for a show this weekend. I drove down to Sunnyvale, and spent a few hours with him. Most of the time was spent at rehearsal, but we did manage to sneak out for an hour to grab a bite at Hobee's.

The first thing I noticed when I saw Mykail (aside from the fact that he's got the Drum Corps Tan) was his fabulously large and beautiful jade pendant. I laughed, and informed him that he's now the newest member of The Jade Brigade

When my family (Mom, Dad, Sis, Sis' boyfriend, Graham, & Dick) went to Yosemite in May, my sister came up with the name. Background: many of the Men in the Chow family wear a jade disc pendant on a gold chain around their neck. When we got married, my wedding gift to Dick was a jade pendant, and my parents gave him a gold chain (which was originally given to my Mom when she was born) as his gift during our Tea Ceremony. My Mom regularly wears the jade pendant that my Dad's mother gave her when she and my Dad were married. I have also taken to wearing the jade pendant that my Grandma gave me during our Tea Ceremony. My sister gave Graham a jade pendant for his birthday last October.

That means that 5 out of 6 of us were wearing jade pendants when we went to Yosemite. That's when my sister started calling us "The Jade Brigade". It has a fun little ring to it :)

So now Mykail is the proud new member of The Jade Brigade, which only seems appropriate since he is like the "long lost brother" in my family.