Bob Gerold and Aimee Gerold 

Aimee Gerold: How did you meet Mom? 

Bob Gerold: I can tell you the date, September 14th, 1984. 

Aimee Gerold: Back when dinosaurs roamed the land. 

Bob Gerold: Yeah, I was protecting her from the dinosaurs! 

And at least one day a week, I left a rose scotch-taped to her front door.

Aimee Gerold: And she didn’t find that creepy?

Bob Gerold: Creepy? No. She actually found that nice… I better tell your boyfriends not to do that. 

Aimee Gerold: Well, a rose, you don’t know who it’s from…

Bob Gerold: Oh no! She knew who it was from. 

Aimee Gerold: Oh, okay. Now, what made you decide you wanted to adopt a child? 

Bob Gerold: Mommy had an ectopic pregnancy, which means the pregnancy was in the tubes.

After that, she couldn’t get pregnant. We considered adopting, and we actually said we wanted a smart, assertive kid. Don’t take this the wrong way, but we viewed intelligence over beauty. 

Aimee Gerold: Great! 

Bob Gerold: Well, but, no, I mean, it turned out to be both! But that’s what we said, and when we got to talk to the nannies about you, they said you were a very determined little child. 

Aimee Gerold: “Huang Xi, very strong will!”

Bob Gerold: That’s right.

I wanna tell you something: you have absolutely changed my life. The most interesting thing for me was the idea of the red thread.

In Chinese adoptions and in the Chinese culture, the red thread means that we are with our souls. Connected to a specific person, and we got you.

And I’m so pleased that you’re part of my life. 

[Musical Interlude]

Aimee Gerold: I’m not crying, you’re crying… My name is Aimee, and this is my dad. 

Bob Gerold: Mhmm.

Aimee Gerold: We’re following up 15 years from the last time that we recorded. 

Since then, I’ve lived so many phases of life. I have gotten my braces off – thank God. 

I’ve gone through college, and I learned to swear like a sailor [laugh].

Bob Gerold: Right, and I’ve just gotten older.

You were such a good kid! You know, you never dated a biker. You, you know, you were-

Aimee Gerold: I still could!

Bob Gerold: You still could. 

Aimee Gerold: I could become the biker!

Bob Gerold: Oh ,you came with a spark that we could nurture, but we couldn’t create. 

Aimee Gerold: Well, you taught me that it was okay to push back and really gave me an opportunity to be strong.

So many people say they’re self-made, but I probably would not have gotten here without you guys.

Bob Gerold: What can I say? I just love you so much, honey. 

 Aimee Gerold: I love you, too.