January 11, 2015

My morning routine these days is that I drop my mom off at the front entrance to the hospital, then go and find parking and meet her up in the room. (And yes, I’ve been driving in Tainan. I think that might be worth its own blog post….)

Just now, as I’m walking up to the main entrance, I see an elderly couple kind of milling around, obviously lost. So I decide to put my best Taiwanese to use, and I ask if I can help them find something. The husband answers that they’re looking for the main entrance to the hospital, so I direct him to it. He then asks where the train station is, relative to where we’re standing, and hey, I have the answer to that, too. But then, he asks where the entrance to the medical school is, as well as the entrance to another word I don’t understand, and that’s where I run out of answers.

So, I explain that I’m not from around here, either, and then I apologize and go on my way.

I get up to my dad’s room, I’m hanging out here for about five minutes. And lo and behold, the very couple I had just helped walk in.

Turns out, the man is my dad’s old roommate. It was through him that my parents first met, however many decades ago.

Maybe I should just assume that everyone I run into at the hospital is here to see my dad….