I left our old style Japanese home in 1962 in a big rush. I had been serving as a second lieutenant in the Armored Corps and had requested to be released one week early to go to the USA. There was little time to say “good bye” to all the people I knew and and to all the familiar places. I was going to a place which I had learned about primarily from books and newspapers.
In 1969, seven years later, a family of three came back together, to a place that I felt that I knew well. But it was totally strange – for me and, of course, for Janice. Our baby, Margaret, was not yet two months old. The leaves in the backyard seemed the same to me, the fruit trees did not seem to have grown more after I left. Yet I had changed in many ways and my Taiwan family was a bit nervous about how the new family would adapt to life in the old style Japanese home. What a change, yet nothing seemed changed!
Every one was at the Taipei airport. It was a typical Taipei day, hot and humid. And, finally, I saw the front-gate of our old home - together with Janice!
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