This story sticks out to me among everything we’ve read in this class so far, in part due to the lack of a romantic element. I noticed a recurring theme in most every other story of the main character exploring a new romance or rekindling an old one. While this story did touch on romantic relationships, the focus on friendship and a relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter was refreshing.
One quote that stuck out to me in particular is as follows: “If her granddaughter was home for stories, Ailin would tell her stories, but she knew that, even though Ying acted nonchalant when the pictures of her posing in an exotic city with stately buildings, grand statues and blue harbours with white boats were admired by her childhood friends, she had already too many stories of her own to shoulder.”
This caught my attention for multiple reasons. The vivid imagery when describing the photos is a device used frequently in this story; the color contrast (blue v.s. white) pops out in the reader’s mind. This passage has a calm, tranquil feeling about it. And yet there is also something deeply melancholic about the end of the sentence: “she had already too many stories of her own to shoulder.” Though we don’t yet know the tragic event that occurred in the lives of Ailin and her friends, this gives off the feeling that perhaps Ying herself has gone through some circumstances too difficult to speak of.
It also hints that maybe Ailin feels as though her presence in her granddaughter’s life is not as important as she feels it should be. Perhaps as they both grow older, Ailin has less to offer to Ying than she wishes she did. There seems to be a thread of missed connections in this story: Ailin’s lost friendships, her physical disconnection from her son, her mental disconnection from her granddaughter, the lack of connection with her late husband. I wonder how much really changes by the end of the story. If anything, it seems as if Ailin and Ying find some connection through the sharing of stories of the past.
Coming to Age 