Grateful for the 20 years of Experiences
by Mari Ueda-Tao
Over 20 years ago, I met and became “framily” with the Hu’s. While there are plenty of shared memories throughout the past two decades, one of the most memorable are ones at the annual Chinese New Year’s Parade. Initially, it was just me as an invited guest. Quickly it became my immediate family (parents and sister). Eventually, it became ALL of us, including parents and our own children in tow. Now the five cousins (ages 4-12) cannot wait to see the dragons, firecrackers, elaborate floats, and all of the marching bands. The cultural significance this tradition holds is incredibly important to our family.
My favorite memory is when we all piled into the van to drive home after a long day in SF, my daughter asked when the next Chinese New Year’s parade would be? She fell asleep a few minutes later, dreaming of all the sights, sounds, and smells she experienced. While we are so sad we won’t be able to celebrate in person this year, we have albums of pictures and videos to remind ourselves of the past several parades!
We are so grateful for all of our experiences.
