This and That: 2012

It was a true reunion after several decades. My father's sister and him got separated during Chinese Civil War. Then she was 9 and my father was 14. My father passed away when I was 17 so there were too many stories I don't know.

I had tried to look for my aunt for ages but it was so difficult due to lack of information. I didn't have her address, her phone number, I didn't even know her name! All I had were an old picture of the family taken about 15 years ago, and a couple of photos of my grandparents.

An ad on TV or new paper led me to this detective agency who claimed they could look for your family in China for you. And it only costs millions of NT dollars. I was frustrated. They kept calling and said I had to find my aunt because she was your only family. I thought "I think I know that".

Then an idea popped up; why don't I contact the police offeice in Henan (where my father was born) and see if they could help me? So I called them and then I was transferred to an journalist. She said she would put the photos on the biggest news paper in Henan. The next day, I got a call, the man said he was my cousin. After emailing back and forth with my cousin, I decided to go visit them.

When my aunt saw me in person, tears fell from her eyes. They made dumplings on the new year's eve, the first night I arrived in Henan.

My aunt looks exactly like my father. They showed me his handwritten letter. I haven't seen my father's handwriting for so so so long! I missed him so much that I cried as soon as I saw his handwriting.