“There is no such thing as a new person, only a new beginning.” 「世上沒有全新的人，只有新的開始。」 Kaohsiung in 1982 was the second-largest city in Taiwan, with a population of about 1.2 million. It was a typical industrial port city, where the air was always filled with the scent of machine oil and the salty sea breeze. Cranes busily loaded and unloaded containers, while the sounds of factories echoed across the city. For Taiwan, it was an era of rapid economic growth, and it was in this very atmosphere that I was born. 1982 年的高雄，是台灣的第二大城市，大概有一百二十萬人口。那是一座典型的工業港口城市，空氣裡總是帶著一點機油味和鹹鹹的海風。吊臂忙著裝卸貨櫃，工廠的聲音此起彼落。對台灣來說，那是一個經濟快速起飛的年代，而我，就是在這樣的氛圍裡出生的。 For my parents, my arrival was a big event. During an ultrasound, the doctor had told my mother that I would likely be a boy. My father was thrilled when he heard the news, believing that having a son as their first child was a great blessing to the family. But when I was born and turned out to be a girl, his expression reportedly grew complicated. Later, he often laughed when recalling: “The moment you were born, you cried so loudly, like a little boy. Too bad you turned out to be a little girl!” 對我的父母來說，我的到來是一件大事。當時媽媽去照超音波，醫生說應該是個男孩。爸爸聽到這個消息非常開心，覺得第一胎就是兒子，這對家庭來說是很大的祝福。可是，當我出生那一刻，他看到其實是個女孩，他的表情據說變得有點複雜。後來他常常笑著回憶說：「妳一出生就哭得特別大聲，像個小男孩，可惜偏偏是個小丫頭！」 As a child, my cries were especially loud—so loud they felt like they could blow the roof off. My father often joked, “Your crying drove me crazy! I almost wanted to throw you out of the window a few times!” Of course, my mother always stopped him. Looking back now, I realize that was just my father’s unique sense of humor. 我小時候的哭聲特別響，常常哭到好像要把屋頂掀翻一樣。爸爸還常開玩笑說：「我都被妳哭到快崩潰了，幾次差點想把妳丟出窗外！」當然這句話每次都會被媽媽阻止。現在回頭想，那其實是爸爸獨特的幽默。 I weighed over four kilograms at birth, truly a “giant baby.” My mother suffered greatly in labor because she gave birth naturally, and she was completely exhausted afterward. What’s more, since she had taken some Chinese medicine during pregnancy, I was born covered in golden hair. My father joked that I looked like a “little golden monkey.” Though everyone found it funny at the time, no one could deny that I was a healthy and adorable baby. 我出生的時候超過四公斤，是個名副其實的「巨嬰」。媽媽為了自然產吃了不少苦，生完累壞了。而且因為她懷孕時吃了太多補品，我一出生全身披著一層金色胎毛，爸爸笑說我像一隻「金毛猴子」。雖然當時大家都覺得好笑，但沒有人能否認——我是一個健康又可愛的寶寶。 My father was a straightforward man and carried a bit of the traditional preference for boys over girls. He often teased me by saying I had been picked up from a garbage heap, which made me angry and cry. Every time, he had to coax me for a long while until I forgave him. As a child, those words hurt, but as I grew older, I realized that was his clumsy way of showing love. Especially in his later years, he would often say: “You and your older sister are the most thoughtful. If I had known earlier, I would have had more daughters.” Those words always warmed my heart. 爸爸的性格很直接，也帶著一點傳統的重男輕女觀念。他常常說我是從垃圾堆撿回來的，逗得我氣哭。每次都要他哄很久我才會破涕為笑。小時候這些話真的會讓我受傷，可是長大以後我才慢慢明白，那是他笨拙表達愛的方式。特別是在他晚年的時候，他常對我說：「妳和妳姊姊最貼心，早知道就多生幾個女兒了。」這句話總是讓我覺得很溫暖。 Now, when I look back, my name, my birth, and these little stories are all part of the very beginning of my life. They are not just pieces of family memory but also reminders that each of us was welcomed into this world within a specific time and cultural background. These memories have accompanied me to this day and have become the foundation of my understanding of family and culture. 現在回想，我的名字、我的出生、還有這些小故事，都是我生命最初的起點。它們不只是家族記憶的一部分，也提醒我：我們每個人都是在特定的時代背景裡被迎接到這個世界的。這些記憶陪我走到今天，也成為我理解家庭和文化的基石。 Thank you for walking with me through my birth story today. As you listen, I hope you can also recall the moment you first came into this world, and how your family welcomed you in their own way. 謝謝妳今天和我一起走進我的出生故事。希望妳在聽的時候，也能回想起自己來到這個世界的那一刻，還有妳的家人，如何用他們的方式迎接妳。 我的網站：flywithlily.com
