"Sakura here, sakura there, sakura everywhere," Kim Bok-in sang when she stepped outside her home for the first time in months. Across the field, one cherry blossom tree waved at us from beyond the hill as soon as we stepped out into the sun. I pointed the flowers out to her with excitement. She rarely leaves her room. But she seemed rather unimpressed.
Born in 1934, my grandmother recalls her childhood under the 1910–45 Japanese occupation but forgets where she puts things. It's a struggle these days to convince her to step outside. Yet she putters inside my aunt and uncle's countryside home with no cane or walker. She continues to embroider daily. I cherish the days we get to spend together.
Taiwan observes Tomb Sweeping (Qingming) as a national holiday in April, so I decided to travel to South Korea. It was pure luck also that my visit coincided with Taiwan's worst earthquake in 25 years, with a magnitude of 7.5, about the magnitude of two atomic bombs. Responding to concerned text messages from friends, I boarded the bus to the countryside to visit her, my aunt, uncle and cousin. I felt delighted and taken aback seeing so many cherry blossoms in bloom. Last........