想家 Homesickness

Haven't received a lunar-calendar-new-year card for a long, long time, I guess it was this beautiful card that touched my 32 years' homesickness for Taiwan, my beloved home country (是這張美麗的賀卡，觸動了我思念台灣的 32 年鄉愁？)

All 14 of our children and grandchildren (including the #6 baby boy in my daughter's tummy), in Albuquerque, New Mexico on the first day of this Lunar-New-year, 2013  (包括那個還在女兒腹中的小Baby, 所有我們的14個兒女和孫兒女於今年農曆新年的第一天，團聚在Abuquerque, New Mexico)

With my parents, my daughter, and her family in 2009, Santa Clara, California

可能是因為今年農曆除夕剛好碰上一個星期六，也可能是因為我的寶貝媳婦兒寄來一張美麗又驚喜的農曆賀年卡，今年，我特別感受到一種 32 年來罕有的「不再放棄異鄉團圓過年」的熱情，與深切渴望。

昨晚午夜時分，即令四面一片靜悄、一無鞭炮，丈夫和我還是興奮地煮了冷凍櫃裏的最後一包水餃。 今晨，我對他說，下一個年除夕，我一定要先包好一桌子的白菜豬肉餃。而且，還要一面煮，一面吃，一面再繼續包.....

曾經宣告，台灣是我的養母，大陸是我的生母，香港是我的手足。

曾經宣告，沒返台之前、不回大陸，沒回過大陸、不去香港，沒去過香港、絕不去世界任何地方觀光。

未料東西加拿大，南北美利堅，甚至踏上了中國邊境的麻瘋村，竟卻一再錯晃那乳育我的地方。

忽然想家。忽然，想念我的母親。

It might have been because this year's lunar-new-year-eve happened to fall on a Saturday, or it was because the surprising, beautiful lunar-calendar-new-year card that I received from my precious daughter-in-law, I have experienced a strong desire and passion, which I seldom had for the last 32 years, to celebrate on the Chinese New Year Eve regardless where I am.

Upon midnight last night, my husband and I cooked and ate up the last package of frozen dumplings and I decided, for the next Chinese New Year Eve, I am going to make a lot, lot, lot of delicious dumplings for my beloved ones, according to the sweet tradition from my childhood in Taipei, Taiwan......

Used to have proclaimed, "Taiwan my foster mother, Mainland my blood mother, Hongkong my own sibling."

Used to have proclaimed, "Unless I have a chance to visit the one who brought me up, I will not visit mainland, Hongkong, or any other place in the world."  

However, having crossed Canada and America, even visited a leprosy village in Southern China, still, the hour has not come for the land that nursed me.

So here I am, homesick, and miss my mother.
 

(By Julia Chou)