September Reflections

Hello Loves,

September was an adventure!

I flew from Canada to Taiwan for a three week trip with my fiancé. She left her birth country when she was sixteen years old and had not been back for sixteen years. I love the serendipity of that timing.

Our first week was spent reconnecting with her family. Some of her younger cousins she’d never met and others she hadn’t seen for 30 years! Her aunt drove us out to the countryside to her grandparents home that still stands. We got to walk through the house, a place that she’d spent every Chinese new year as a child, and see the room that she slept in with her parents and sibling. At the top floor of the home, we were ushered into a room that held a beautiful family altar. Candles and incense were lit, and food offerings were placed in front of deity’s. Family photos hung on the wall of those who’d passed on. What a thoughtful practice to honor your loved ones. Her uncle prayed to the ancestors welcoming my fiancé and me home, and praying for both of us to do well in life and to always be protected. The kind words and inclusion into this family moved me to tears.

We were treated to the most fresh from the garden, delicious lunch on a hillside restaurant with a view that spanned the whole town. I was so moved by how we were taken in with open arms and care and curiosity and love. We were treated like royalty. The generosity and kindness of Taiwanese people is astounding. This process of reconnection was heart-opening for me. It made me value my own family even more and appreciate their close proximity to me. (I still have to catch a ferry to see most of my family or traverse the rocky mountains, but I don’t have to fly for 12 hours!)

We spent the next week of our trip touring around the gorgeous jungly island of Taiwan with it’s steep mountain ranges, turquoise lakes and rivers, fluffy forests with wild monkeys and stunning birds, white sand beaches and rocky coast lines, waterfalls, and breathtaking gorges. Our last week was spent in Taipei where we shopped until we dropped and ate and ate and ate some more. Dumplings! Peking Duck! Porkchop Noodle! Hotpot! Shaved Ice! Fresh Guava! Cakes and Cookies! Bubble Tea! I’ve never been so full in my life. Think of Thanksgiving dinner but for three weeks straight!

The highlight of this trip was spending time with family and friends. Again, what stands out is the authentic  love and care shown to me by Taiwanese people. I was a stranger yet treated everywhere I went like a beloved. For that I am grateful.