Life is at crossroads right now.  There are many paths, and I can't see any of them very clearly...and I'm walking round and round at the intersection, waiting for...what?  One of the paths to become clearer to me?  Courage to go down a path and not look back?  At any rate, I'm still here.  I just need a bit more time.

My grandfather passed away last week, after a long fight with many different illness.  He would have turned 90 this year.  I never got to know him very well, having grown up on the other side of the world, and never having been able to communicate to each other as we speak different dialects.  In his later years, he grew quite deaf; being naturally an introverted, quiet man, he became even more consciously mute.  I remember him to have the sweetest smile.  I know he's in a much better place now.

These are a couple of the very few photographs I have with him, on my last visit back to Taiwan in 2008.

My lovely grandparents celebrated their 60th Diamond Anniversary just a few years ago, and I always remember my grandmother being quoted on the local newspaper: the key to a successful marriage, she said, is "tolerance" -- !!  Or perhaps this is better translated into English as "compromise and patience".  You have to give each other space, and remember what matters in the end is that you want to stay together.

I'll be flying back to Taiwan in a few days to attend the funeral, and to give my grandmother a big hug and kiss.