Progress! I had a very productive conversation with my mom a couple nights ago.

So I called her to tell her that David got me a ring. I wanted her to know that we're very serious about getting married. (I actually chose the ring and ordered it off a website, because I can't trust someone else to make that decision for me.)

Then she immediately asked, "You got it then?" And she wasn't talking about the ring. She was talking about the pre-nup.

Then she went on to repeat herself about how you never know what the future holds. "You're only 22..." We were talking over each other by this time, so I firmly said:

"Mom, can I say something?"

"Tell mommy what you have to say."

"I'm 24. And I have spent every day with David (practically) for the past 3 years, I know him and he knows me very well." (I didn't know how to say "each other" in Cantonese)

Then I told her that in California, you must be married for 10 years before you have to split everything in half. So if I'm not happy at 9 years, I can get out.

She was content that I did my research to protect myself, "oh, so you looked into it, that's good."

"Mom, I know you're worried about me. I understand that."

Silence. I was choked up, and the silence on the other end of the line meant she was choked up too.

I told her David and I wanted to visit her at the end of February. And this time, timing didn't work in my favor. My maternal grandmother from Canada will be visiting and staying only until mid-February.

When I told David about the unfortunate timing, I realized something for the first time: I only have 1 grandparent left. I never thought of it that way before. Both my grandfathers died before I was born, so when my paternal grandmother passed in 2010, I thought of it as a single loss. I didn't think of it in terms of having only one person from that generation left in my life. Sigh.

Anywho, I think my mom's pretty content with the divorce laws I told her about, but I'm not 100% sure. We'll find out at the end of February.