It was just dinner. And yet it was everything, I think, to all of us. A couple of weeks ago, my parents and I convened at my brother’s place in Los Angeles to celebrate his birthday. My folks flew in separately from New England. When I arrived on May 22, it had been 16 months and 3 weeks since I last saw them, two days after Christmas 2019. That’s 512 days without face time with my folks. (Or FaceTime, since neither of my parents have cellphones capable of that—and happily so.) I picked a modern Chinese joint for our first meal — it’s a family tradition. We kicked it off with “New York Style Egg Rolls,” naturally. They were the size of soda cans and easy to slice in half. The Oriental hot mustard served alongside made all of us tear up suddenly. It wouldn’t be the last time that happened.