I made a stop in Taiwan to visit my maternal grandfather on my way back from India. My maternal grandmother just happened to be in Taipei at the time. She’s actually a jet setting globetrotter who’s always running between SF, Taipei, Shanghai, and Hunan province in China. My grandfather is 92 now although for some reason he keeps on saying 94, and he’s getting awfully frail. My grandma is 82 and is still running around with incredible energy.
I believe this may be one of the best things I’ve done in the recent years. Just to see my grandfather who I haven’t seen in a few years, since he’s too old to travel to SF anymore.
A few nice little things that made me sad but happy all at the same time:
1) First night I arrived in Taiwan my grandfather said my dad was born in 1936 and my mom was born in 1939. Now this would mean my dad was 71. That isn’t possible. I was thinking at the time that my grandpa was losing it, but he said, “Do you want to see it?” I followed him into his room where in the main drawer of his desk he pulled out his “Hu Ko Ming Bu.” This piece of paper was a family registry of sorts and he showed me where my dad himself had written his name. Next to the day was 1939. I later learned that since the Republic of China was established in 1911, they measure all dates in relation to that, so 1936 is actually 1947. I know, it doesn’t make any sense to me either. But it was really cute to see my Grandpa shuffle over to his desk where he had his family registry handy.
2) My grandma is all about making money. That’s why she always running around the globe. She actually just started a pig farm in Hunan province, and she has an uncanny ability to buy and sell properties making incredible amounts of money. So the entire time my grandma was telling me how much money she had made and how her children had not inherited 1) her money making talents and 2) her cooking ability, all of which I whole-heartedly agree. She kept saying your mom really used to be so smart and quick minded, and now she is not so good at making money. She said that for the first day. The second day started and she said the same thing again for half of the time. But then I went for a walk with my grandma and I was having a good conversation, she interrupted me and said, “You know your mom can’t really cook and can’t make money like I can, but she was really good at raising kids.” To which I responded, “Yea, ’cause I was (am) a pretty awful kid.”
3) I was telling stories to my grandparents that my mom had told me about her childhood. I mentioned the old house my grandparents used to live in that my mom grew up in. I told them about the time that my mom fell asleep in the bath and everyone thought she had drowned and how they broke down the door only to realize she was asleep. My grandma and grandpa started laughing
4) I told my grandpa one of my mom’s favorite memories as a child. My grandfather on weekends used to take all the kids and lump them in the car and drive to the Imperial Palace Museum grounds. The grounds have large rolling hills and the kids used to spend all day rolling down them. My grandpa smiled and laughed.
5) I wanted to take a picture with my grandpa and grandma. My grandpa was already in his pajamas. He sprang up when I asked him for his picture and ran to his room. He came out in a dress shirt and his pajamas pants and a tie. I took a picture with him. He then ran back in and put on some dress pants. He came out and we took another picture together.
I wonder what my grandkids will think of me.
Oh Yea! The typhoon I wrought on Taiwan uprooted 800 trees and crushed 15 cars.