Diary #27

TIANANMEN SQUARE, 2000 — In a rare act of generosity Xue’s father flew her to Taipei for a week, and as you see here, they also spent a couple of days in Beijing.

THE HAGUE, 2012 — I did say rare, right? Not, mind you, that I’m bitter or anything. Please. So over it.

My daughter is a Chinese girl (half) who was born in China (Taipei) but who has never lived there. By the time she was born her father and I already hadn’t spoken for months. Xue and I left Taiwan not long after she was born and returned to the United States where my mother had the pleasure of beginning her Youth & Responsibility lecture series.

Last year Xue opened a virtual art gallery from her college dorm room in London. The location? Virtual Taipei.

I’ve heard it said that that which we’re given, that which we grow up with, we’ll use, we’ll take for granted, but we’ll never truly value. That which we grow up without, we long for, we desire, we hunger for, we are defined by.