It’s such a gorgeous sight, to see you eat in the middle of the night

One of my favorite things to do when David and I get together is go out for sushi.

I used to be so squeamish about the idea, and he would tease me relentlessly about it. "It's good! You should try it! Don't be so afraid of it!". He made me promise that I would try it, and additionally made me promise that my first time out for sushi had to be with him.

The year I turned 30, David sent me a plane ticket to come visit him in Berkeley for a few days. We went sightseeing in San Francisco, wandered around Berkeley's gorgeous campus...and he and Paul and Kenshin took me out for sushi.

Kirala, a small establishment not far from where David was living then, already had a line halfway around the building by the time we arrived. I was astonished to see that so many people would line up to wait for a table. It had to be good, right?

It was better than good. It was AWESOME!

I had no idea what to expect, and had David order for me. When they brought out the huge, gorgeously arranged platter, I almost didn't want to eat it. Everything was so beautiful! I started pointing at things - What's this? What's in that? - and was met with grins all around. "Don't ask questions," Kenshin told me. "Just eat." So I did.

And I was hooked.

These days, my favorite thing to eat come midnight munchie time is leftover sushi. It's all David's fault, and I still haven't figured out if I should thank him for that, or raise hell with him for the dent the stuff always puts in my wallet.

Maybe both.