After 2 long years, my Duke retina fellowship and my affair with the South has come to a close. My parents flew down from NYC to spend my last 2 weeks on the East coast with me. While I scrambled to hand off clinical duties and wrap up research projects, my parents kept me well fed at home. Last weekend, we went to browse the newest line up of home appliances at Best Buy, Sears, and Home Depot. With a little help from Slickdeals and CardPool, we ordered a curvey GE French-door refrigerator and a bulgy Samsung washer/dryer for the new house in Sacramento. This was perfect timing as we finally closed on the house on 6/30, which in retrospect seemed anti-climactic without the experience of sitting together to sign the documents in person. Having cleared out the pantry and fridge, I’ve also taken the opportunity to try out several remaining restaurants in the area. On Thursday, after saying our goodbyes at work, my colleagues and I met with the incoming fellows at Ed Mitchell’s Que, where we enjoyed lively conversation and whole-hog chopped BBQ, followed by a brief detour on the way home. Over the long weekend, I took my parents to Dim Sum House for a change of pace from our usual venue, introduced them to fried onion blossoms at nearby Texas Roadhouse, and had salty Mediterranean cuisine at Parizade. Our best meal was at Pop’s Trattoria, where the apple & brie wood-fired pizza, angel hair pasta with clams, and a succulent chicken cooked under a brick satisfied even die-hard Chinese food lovers like my parents. After dinner, we were surprised to catch the last few minutes of live fireworks from the Durham Bulls Park, since it was already July 5th. On Monday, despite a 2-hour delay in the movers’ arrival, I met with “Special K” back at work for some last minute DJ’ing tips. By the time my parents dropped me off at the airport this morning, I felt a sense of closure with the extraordinary experience I had received at Duke. At the same time, I was excited with the prospect of a new house, a new job, and reuniting with my wife. As I lugged my heavy bag to the check-in booth, I watched my parents wave goodbye and prepare to take our car back with them to New York. I looked up at the display – my flight is on-time. I proceeded through the security gate and did not look back.