He Mama



This journey begins actually way back in 1993 when I first came to Tunghai University to learn Chinese with a buncha other fellow foreigners from Japan, Canada, Germany and the US. We loved to hang out at this totally cool place called "He Mama" which was run by an adorable old matriarch by that name... ah the memories. I recall that her daughter-in-law had just had a baby girl and was just beginning to walk by the time I had to leave Taiwan in '94.

June 27, 2006: Upon my return many years later, I'd found that I perhaps came a bit too early in the day and they were closed. I had to walk around to kill time until they opened.
When they did open, I was delighted to see that the girl that had been born 12 years prior was now, well, 12. Ain't that somethin'? The elderly He Mama was still ambling around and being her affable old self...

Oct 29, 2009: Now, as if I couldn't get enough, I came back 4 years later... but only got one pic of the sign from another angle (before running back to a waiting car outside):

Oct 30, 2010: The years go by and are marked by the events that change our lives and remind us that we're still around to enjoy it all. 10 days after my daughter was born, I decided to out and check He Mama's once again to find that the little girl, "Nancy" as she is known, is a senior in high school. She taught herself Japanese and English... isn't that cool??

Yep, so I reckon that, all in all, there are these places on the planet that sorta define who you are: 1) There's a place that was equidistant from my friend's house and mine growing up that we'd meet at before deciding what kind of mayhem we were going to do that day around Midland, TX [before we drove cars]. 2) There's that magical spot in Lory Student Center (CSU) [the details of which I shan't disclose here]; and, finally, there's 3) He Mama...
Betcha I'm not the only person who finds He Mama special.