Grandma's Hairpin

In 1949, the Nationalist Government lost the civil war to the Chinese Communists and retreated to Taiwan with about 600,000 soldiers. My father was one of them. The soldiers thought they would soon return to their homeland. But they waited till 1987 when the ban on private visits to China was lifted. These war veterans were in an awkward position: China no longer feels like home, yet putting down roots in Taiwan have proved to be challenging.