I mentioned in an earlier post that my family put a lot of effort into finding my missing backpack and I am incredibly grateful. But really, who is this mysterious group of sleuths?
I love, love, love this picture. Yes, it's a photo of a picture...scanners were few and far between in little villages in northern Thailand. I took a pic of this photo that my aunt had from my grandparents and took it through a bit of photo editing. Not perfect but I removed the major rips and tears. Now I just look at it and smile...my mom and all but one of her siblings.
When I hear stories about how sad my grandparents were when we left Thailand I am sad that I never really knew them. Hearing that another one of my uncles had passed away recently was like an instant catalyst to book my trip. I couldn't imagine looking back and having any more regrets about not knowing my own family. While it was more wonderful than I expected, communication was hard. As much as I tried, I couldn't seem to draw forth from my innermost memory, that Thai I spoke during my younger years. Shocker. And really, how could someone who studied French, Spanish and even Japanese in school, never learn the first language she ever spoke? I was a bit embarassed.
As the photo shows, and my family told me often, I look more like my father than my mother. "You face like papa, sister like mama." It's all about the nose apparently, and my nose is 100% anglo-saxon, 0% thai. I know because even perfect strangers asked if I was a falang (westerner) while pointing at their nose. In fact, if I had a dollar for each time the word falang came up I could have paid for this entire trip...
I love, love, love this picture. Yes, it's a photo of a picture...scanners were few and far between in little villages in northern Thailand. I took a pic of this photo that my aunt had from my grandparents and took it through a bit of photo editing. Not perfect but I removed the major rips and tears. Now I just look at it and smile...my mom and all but one of her siblings.
When I hear stories about how sad my grandparents were when we left Thailand I am sad that I never really knew them. Hearing that another one of my uncles had passed away recently was like an instant catalyst to book my trip. I couldn't imagine looking back and having any more regrets about not knowing my own family. While it was more wonderful than I expected, communication was hard. As much as I tried, I couldn't seem to draw forth from my innermost memory, that Thai I spoke during my younger years. Shocker. And really, how could someone who studied French, Spanish and even Japanese in school, never learn the first language she ever spoke? I was a bit embarassed.
I was lucky enough to grow up with my family (both my mother's side and my father's side) within, at most, a 50 mile radius. Most actually lived in the same city as we did or the next town over. I recently moved 2000 miles away and miss them desperately. I couldn't imagine being across the entire world from them. *Hugs*
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your beautiful vacation photos. I am so glad that you were able to connect with your family. For me, connecting with the "lost one" made me feel whole even though I had no idea I had anything missing. I hope you got something like that as well.
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