I stare at the picture: one celebrating Mother’s Day. Inside, a vase of flowers sits on the table with the line, “Mom, you are the best.” I hesitate, but finally, I post it to my WeChat Family group. I hope my mother will see it, although I don’t think she will reply. Still, I feel it can at least ease me.
Hands holding the flowers
the meaning of Mother’s Day
revealed at this time
A group of geese search for food in the lush grass on the distant slope, their heads bobbing up and down as they peck at the grass. Meanwhile, I stand at the roadside, quietly observing them from a distance. Each goose is focused intently on finding food, except for one that stands like a sentinel,…
The grass becomes lusher and greener after the summer rain. Fir trees gently sway in the breeze, their shadows side by side, overlaying the lawn like rolling little peaks. In the strong sun, a large green dragonfly circles over the grass. I stand under the eaves and watch as it ignores me, flapping its sparkling…
In a bright room, they sit together for breakfast, their arms linked and smiles shining, lighting up everything around them. The two have a special friendship, like sisters. The older lady is American with short white hair, and the younger lady is originally from China with long black hair. She has lived and worked in…
I am sitting at home the next day, looking at pictures of us and remembering the good times. Last evening, we dined with my husband’s high school classmate, who, along with her husband, drove from Washington, DC, to visit her best friend in a nursing home in Durham. After warm hugs, we stepped into Shiki-Sushi,…
I’m drinking green tea—not one I brewed myself, but from Starbucks. It’s slightly bitter, astringent on the tongue, from the tea bag steeping too long. But today, I don’t mind. I take small sips to the last drop, savoring it as if it were fine wine. It’s 10 a.m., and a few scattered customers sit…
It is the first cool early morning of July; the temperature has dropped to a comfortable level. Many thin gray clouds glide eastward, occasionally leaking light spots. After a while, they stack up to form thick fish clouds, darkening the sky. Nearby, the rushing wind flows through the tops of the fir trees, making the…