Always an Adventure...

With only 10 days until I return home, I've been thinking with much anticipation about the friends I'll be meeting this summer. I've got some amazing friends and family back home whom I only get to see once a year, if that. This summer, I'm flying to see a friend of almost 20 years whom I haven't seen in 5! I wish I could see everyone every time I go home, but with time, money, and geography, it's just not possible. Plus there are so many Taiwan friends who have returned to North America that I would love to see in addition to the Canadian friends I left behind 10 years ago. It's really hard for me sometimes to choose to see someone, or not to make the trip to see someone, to impose myself on people helplessly (I'd love to visit you, but I'll need you to drive me an hour or more to an airport afterward), and to have to say "you only get a few hours of my time" when it would take much, much longer for us to catch up. I also don't want i...

Recently there has been a lot of bad news coming my way. In the past few weeks there was news of two sudden deaths from afar. It is really hard to grieve when you are not there with everyone else, especially for an avoider like me. But as a friend recently reminded me, it doesn't make sense for us to wait until the end of someone's life to express how much they meant to us and how much we appreciate them. This is something we should tell them NOW, while they can still hear us. So here are some goodbye thoughts for those who have moved on, and coming up, I hope to post some #sayitnow words of gratitude and appreciation to people who have impacted my life! Auntie Mona Yours was the first wedding I remember going to, and I remember as a child always thinking you were so beautiful . But even more than that, you were the aunt that always took the time to talk with us kids. You would do our hair sometimes, and compliment us, and just make us feel like we mattered. One memory ...