Family Stories

“You are always welcome in a gathering.”

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What I love about returning to Taiwan is seeing older relatives and hearing all their stories. Every time I go back, I feel like more family members come out of the woodwork. One day, we even had 23 people crammed in a house talking together.

In honor of my first published book, THE 228 LEGACY, a lot of folks shared memories about The 228 Massacre (1947) and its aftermath. Here are a few interesting tidbits:

  • An auntie remembered savoring the taste of a simple sugar cube, since after WWII food was rationed
  • A KMT soldier bought two bags of rice but asked for a receipt for three bags; a few days later, he came back wanting a full refund for the three bags” he had purchased
  • Family members hid someone from the belligerent government in a closet (what an Anne Frank-like story!)

p.s. I also got to see a museum with a 228 exhibit, a memorial park, and the National Museum of Taiwan Literature (where I donated a copy of my book)

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Comments

  1. How fortunate you are to get to meet your large family. And elderly people hold important stories that I also feel are essential to younger folks. The sharing is beautiful and we have so much to learn from each other.

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