"Caregiving flows through Mama
as she helps A-ma shower
and get dressed.
Just as it did
when A-ma used to help Mama
when she was a little girl."
Jocelyn Chung dedicates this book to her mother:
For my mom,
who gave decades to caregiving with
joy, resilience, patience, and sacrifice.
May you receive abundant care for yourself
as freely as you've gifted it to others.
This warm, gracious book clearly expresses how that caregiving has shaped the author's life. A young narrator and her a-ma are on their way to a family picnic as A-ma explains the family cares for each other in a fluid and continuous way - just as a river flows. Each generation tends to the next as past generations have cared for them.
The capacity to be there for each other is strong. A-gong meets his granddaughter after school with a smile and a snack; his granddaughter brings the snack and smile as she attends a doctor's appointment with her grandfather to hold his hand and translate the doctor's instructions for him. Each loving scene is filled with familiar Taiwanese foods, settings, memories, and comparisons from one family member to the next. The encounters are filled with compassion and respect.There are so many ways to include all family members in thoughts and actions. It might be to laugh; it might be to cry. Whatever the circumstance, the family is together.
"No matter how often our lives change course,
one thing is for sure: I will always be a part of
this never-ending river of love and care."
Full of joy, and accompanied by loving digital images created using watercolor, gouache and colored pencils, this tribute honors love of family from one generation to the next, ever and always. It is heartwarming, and a special read.
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