We were brought together by our kids.
In 2017, a baby girl named Mila and my son Miles met when they were less than 1 year old. On the hand-written daily write-ups from daycare, I’d often read about how Miles and Mila played together. Little did I know back then how grateful I would be that Mila came into my son’s life. As my husband and I were navigating the newness of being parents, we hoped to meet other parents that we could relate to. It wasn’t long until one afternoon at daycare pickup, I met Mila’s mom. We eventually exchanged numbers and went on a movie date on a random Thursday afternoon to see Ocean’s 8 – this was July 2018 and the rest is history… I eventually met Hao at the daycare Halloween parade a couple months later. I remember thinking that Hao had a quiet confidence that surrounded him, and his energy was very calming. As I got to know Hao more I learned about his humble beginnings and understood how that shaped the man he became. With Hao, what you saw was what you got. I appreciated how straight up and down-to-earth he was. He was grounded, he was hard-working, and he was infinitely generous. We didn’t spend too much time talking about his work, but I know that he loved what he did and he was brilliant at it. More than anything, it was abundantly clear to me that Hao loved his family above everything. He was a great dad to Mila and Aleks and a supportive and loving husband to Ana. I really enjoyed the fact that Mila and Aleks are the same ages as my sons. We did, in fact, find in Hao and Ana another couple that we could relate to and share stories about the ups and downs of raising young kids. I have wonderful memories of the experiences we had together. Hao and Ana welcomed our kids to run amok, ahem, have playdates in their beautiful home and were the most gracious hosts. Hao was in his happy place when he was standing in between the grill and the Big Green Egg cooking a feast for us all. Our families met up a lot in El Segundo whether it was for a random weekday drink at Sausal, a Dad’s night out at Purple Orchid or getting together to go to the Art Walk or Halloween festivities. For a lot of our family outings, Hao was a Jedi when it came to getting the bill, he was always faster to the draw than anybody I knew and generously covered everyone. I am forever grateful to the universe that the stars aligned, and our kids brought us all together. Watching these kids grow up together won’t be the same without Hao, but we are looking forward to showering Mila and Aleks with all of the love, support and generosity that Hao gave us in the few short years that we knew him. Hao, you were taken way too soon and it feels like just yesterday we were celebrating Halloween together with our kids. You are loved and you are dearly missed. When we meet again, I guarantee you, the meal is on me. xoxo rip
