Taipei: Creating Memories

This is a continuation of a post recounting our visit to the island of Taiwan. If you missed it, here's Part one and Part two.

The next day, we left Taipei to take a trip down memory lane to Taoyuan to visit several relatives. One of the most inspiring persons we met was a lovely 86 year old lady, who my mother fondly called Ayi. She was my grandmother's best friend. When describing their relationship, we would use the term joined at the hip. They were like sisters and business partners and stopped at nothing to assist one another.

When we met her for the first time, she greeted us with a warm toothy grin, happy to have visitors in her home. She talked about how wonderful my grandmother was and how close they were. In fact, they sold shoes together at one point. She grew up sewing and was a great seamstress. Ayi would sew uniforms for my grandmother's four children while my grandmother would mind Ayi's store or wash clothes in exchange for her skill. To this day, at age 86, Ayi sews small ornaments to keep her mind and hands busy.

What a beautiful spirit to share and work with her hands for so many years. As we departed, she gifted us with a few of her sewing projects which I thought were too adorable not to post. (Sorry for the bad pictures. These were taken with the camera phone.)