Have you ever been so excited to see someone, only to find out they’ve completely forgotten who you are? 💔
That’s what happened to me today.
We went to visit my grandma in San Chung today, and she had no idea who I was! To be fair, my grandma is 90 and has dementia, and I also haven’t visited Taiwan in almost 12 years... 😢
I showed her this photo of us from when I was a baby to see if it would jog her memories:
But she just slowly nodded in acceptance even though she was still confused. 😭
Nevertheless, we enjoyed some tea and fruit together, and of course had to snap a new photo:
Shortly after, we met up with my aunt for lunch and went to the historic Dihua Street to find some U.S.-banned Chinese medicine herbs. 😂
Then, we became full-blown tourists and had some fun at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
My mom and aunt are so cute in this video:
They’ve never taken a 360 video like this before, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their giggles as they concentrated on staying in the frame. 😆
Now I’m back at the hotel writing this blog post to process the fact that my grandma doesn't remember me.
I do feel a bit sad about it, but I wonder what it’s like to not have memories to be attached to.
If the root of all suffering comes from attachment, I wonder if not having certain memories makes you suffer any less.
Here I am trying to document everything so that I don’t forget, but the lesson today was that even with documentation (i.e. the photo from 1988 above) there is no guarantee that memories will last.
If anything, today’s post is helping me be in touch with what’s most important.
To me, they are:
staying present,
enjoying family while I can, and
relishing in the delight of childlike joy. 🤩
It’s been an interesting day to say the least!
Tomorrow we check out of this hotel and continue on our adventure. I can’t wait to see my cousins tomorrow!
Until then…❤️
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