"Howard!" His Mom greeted him with a kiss

"Hi Mom! You look beautiful tonight. Hi Dad!"

"How's it goin' Howie?"

"Great!" He turned to Samantha and gave her a look that said 'Here we go.' Samantha took a deep breath as Howie began his introductions. "Mom, Dad, I would like for you to meet Samantha Danner. Sam, these are my parents Hoke & Paula.

Hoke extended his hand out to Samantha. "It is nice to finally meet you Samantha. You are all we've heard about this week!"

Samantha reached and shook the man's hand. "Thank you Mr. Dorough. I am very happy to meet you as well. Howard has told me all about the two of you."

"That is a very lovely dress you are wearing this evening Samantha."

"Gracias Señora Dorough. Pollyanna me ayudó a arreglarme para esta noche. ¡Ella tiene un maravilloso gusto para la ropa y supo exactamente lo que resaltaría mi figura!" Thank you Mrs. Dorough. Pollyanna helped me get ready tonight. She has wonderful taste in clothes and she knew exactly what to do to bring out my features!

"¿Hablas español, Samantha?" You speak Spanish Samantha? Paula inquired.

"Si, hablo español." Yes, I do speak Spanish. Samantha replied nervously "Mi padre insistió que mis hermanos y yo aprendiéramos a hablar español tan fluido como fuese posible. Él considera que el español y el japonés son dos idiomas que toda persona debe aprender a hablar debido a la cantidad de comunicaciones entre nuestras naciones y el número creciente de gente en los Estados Unidos que hablan estas lenguas. Viviendo en California, no tengo mucha ocasión de hablar otro idioma; sin embargo, cuando visito a mi hermano cerca de Los Ángeles, utilizo el español muy a menudo." My father insisted my brothers and I learn to speak Spanish as fluently as possible. He feels Spanish and Japanese are two languages everyone should learn to speak due to the amount of communications between our nations and the growing number of people in the United States who speak the languages. Living where I do in California, I do not get the chance to speak either language very often. When I visit my brother near Los Angeles, I do use Spanish quite often though.

"¿También hablas japonés? ¡Eres una joven muy talentosa!" So you speak Japanese as well? You are a very talented young lady!

Samantha smiled "Realmente, mi japonés es muy pobre! Mi padre puede considerar que es un idioma necesario, pero yo rara vez lo utilizo. Sin embargo hablo francés fluido. De hecho, mi hermano Christopher y yo hablamos francés casi exclusivamente cuando estamos juntos" Actually, my Japanese is very poor! My father may feel it is a necessary language, but I have rarely used it! I do speak French fluently though. In fact, my brother Christopher and I speak French almost exclusively when we are together.

"Tus padres son multilingües?" Are your parents multi-lingual?

"Sí, lo son...¡pero no en los mismos idiomas! Mi padre pasó mucho tiempo en Brasil y México, ¡así que él habla español mucho mejor que yo! Mi madre es de Quebec así que aprendí hablar francés a través de ella." Yes, they are...but not in the same languages! My father spent a great deal of time in Brazil and Mexico, so he speaks Spanish better than I ever will! My mother is from Quebec so I learned to speak French through her.

"Hablas muy bien español, Samantha. Obviamente has puesto dedicación en aprender el idioma." You speak Spanish very well Samantha. You have obviously put time into learning the language.

"¡Gracias Señora Dorough! ¿Le importaría decírselo a mi padre alguna vez?" Thank you Mrs. Dorough! Would you mind telling my father that sometime? Samantha and Paula laughed.

"Please Samantha. Call us Hoke and Paula! Mrs. Dorough makes me feel like I am in my classroom!"

"OK. I will remember that! My friends call me Sam."

"Her brothers call her 'peepers'!" Pollyanna said joining the group. She was holding an adorable little girl in her arms.

"What a sweetheart!" Samantha looked at Pollyanna. "I didn't know you had a daughter!"

"Oh she is not mine Sam!" Pollyanna handed the baby to her dad. "She is my great niece! Her name is Samantha too."

"Really? She is adorable! May I hold her?"

"You can try Sam but once she gets in grandpa's arms she is hard to get out!"

"I understand! My youngest nephew is the same way with my mom! He just turned 2." Samantha looked at the little girl and envied the way she snuggled into her great-grandfather. 'Someday Sam. Someday.' she thought.

Howie turned to Samantha "What does 'peepers' mean?"

Samantha giggled "Pollyanna...I will get even with you!" She looked at Howie "I will explain later. It is kind of a long story..."

Howie squeezed her hand. "I will hold you to that promise. This sounds like a good story!"

Pollyanna laughed. "Let's just say when Samantha told me how she got her nickname, I immediately thought of you!"

Howie looked at Sam, then at Pollyanna and back to Sam. "Interesting...Samantha why don't we go get something to drink? I am a little thirsty."

"Sounds great to me." She turned to Hoke and Paula "It was very nice meeting you! I hope we can talk more later."

"You bet we will Samantha! It was a pleasure meeting you as well!" Paula replied.