Fish Tacos

I just saw a tweet recommending a recipe for healthy fish tacos, so here comes another story Hopper won't like.

Nine years ago, the coolest part of my family had a reunion out in California over Christmas. Some of the relatives were getting on in years, and it seemed like there was a good chance this was the last time we would all be able to get together, so we pulled out all the stops. My dad, the most dedicated teacher I have ever known, took two personal days, Hopper and I scheduled our house closing and adoption homestudy meetings around the dates, and we all flew out to Laguna Beach.

It was an amazing week, and there are many stories to tell, but this one is about the night we went to the fish taco joint. It was one of those places where you order at the counter and pay, and then your food is brought to the table, so it was perfect for a big group like ours--each family ordered separately and then we all sat at a huge table together. I have a great picture of my cousin's baby sleeping on another cousin's lap as they sat on the windowsill, just hanging out. We sat there for hours. It was a perfect family evening.

The next day we drove up to the Aquarium with my parents. While we were there, Hopper got grouchy, then peaky. By the time we left, he was green. That night, he could barely sleep because he was so sick, and by the next morning he couldn't get out of bed to go to the breakfast room. We talked to the family, and found out that one of the teenage cousins, but not the other, had fallen ill, even though they had shared a bedroom all week. One of the grandmothers was sick. And one of the cousins my age. Nobody who shared a bedroom or bathroom with the sick family members had caught the illness.

My parents and I headed out to dinner with some of the Laguna cousins. We chose a deli so that I could get some chicken soup to bring back
for Hopper. We were starting to be concerned that we wouldn't be able to fly home the next day, but he was finally able to keep down some soup, and thought he'd make it.

Eventually we figured out that one person from each family group was sick. Apparently, one cook at the restaurant didn't have clean hands, and whoever ate the food he prepared came down with food poisoning.

Hopper made it home and recovered after a couple of days. But it's nine years later and there's no way I'm making fish tacos for dinner.