Shu Shu

We were lucky enough to see my brother, Brent, during the brief window within which he's back in the US (before heading to Australia for a year or more). Although he looooooooves being in Cirque du Soleil and is about to start work on the show that is probably perfect for him (with a level of responsibility even higher than he had before), it is still hard for him to be away. Harder still to have to make last-minute travel plans and pack in all the visits with family and friends he can muster while still taking care of any outstanding business he can't do from overseas.

He and Ari are strikingly similar in many ways, and we were very sad when he had to leave for South American after Thanksgiving 2007 because it was clear he and Ari were able to bond.

Fast forward to Summer 2008, and Ari is now older and even more able to form a strong bond with her uncle. She can't pronounce "Uncle" or "Brent," so he suggested she call him "Shu Shu," which means uncle in Chinese (Brent is nearly fluent, being a bit of a sinophile and having lived in China for a while during his university studies).

We were very sad to say good-bye to Shu Shu today. He had to head up to Chicago to see friends and take care of some details before heading out to start a new show in Australia. So... we are hoping we can see him on tour - perhaps on the New Zealand leg of the show. What an adventure that would be.

In honor of Shu Shu's departure, here is a photo we took right before he left: