My grandmother was a beautiful woman, elegant and graceful by nature. But after a bad fall, she became hunchbacked. Like many women of her time, she had bound feet, so she always walked very slowly. Still, I can clearly picture her carrying a pot of tonic soup, walking for half a day from her village just to bring nourishment to my mother. She had four daughters, and before my mother got married, she was her pride and joy—intelligent, beautiful, and said by fortune tellers to be the most fortunate of the four. Yet after marriage, my mother suffered many hardships in her husband’s family and even fell into depression.  

My grandmother’s heart ached for her. Whenever she cooked something good, she would think of my mother and walk miles to deliver it. My mother could never finish all the tonic soup, so she shared it with us. Perhaps that is why, to this day, I have a special fondness for the unique aroma of Chinese herbal soups—they remind me of my grandmother’s deep love. 

My father’s father passed away at seventy, and my grandmother lived for another decade or so. My strongest memory of my grandfather is from my elementary school days. At every family gathering, he used to say, “Whoever graduates first in their class will receive a gold watch from me.” When I actually graduated first in my school, I told him excitedly, but he never gave me any gift—certainly not a gold watch. I reminded him several times, and he only chuckled. Yet he was always proud of me, often raising his thumb and telling relatives how well I did, saying I was the only grandchild who entered the best high school and university in Taiwan. 

My grandmother on my father’s side often spoke Hakka, a dialect I could barely understand. When I was little, my father would take me to visit my grandparents early in the morning before going to work. My grandmother always prepared a table full of porridge, fish, and small dishes for us. Those quiet mornings at their home remain some of the warmest memories of my childhood. 

The great wheel of life turns from one generation to the next. Though the days of my grandparents and great-grandparents have long passed, their love and the memories of them will forever live in my heart.