It was late 1996 and Tai-tai had discovered that she was pregnant. Our health care in GZ at the time consisted of a very small clinic (basically two broom closets that were attached made up the office of the clinic) located at the apartment complex we lived in at the time. For more extensive health care, one had to travel to HK to see specialists, etc. With a pending birth looming, Tai-tai was forced into a monthly routine of traveling to HK for ob-gyn visits.
The train schedules back then were terrible. Only about 4 trains ran direct from GZ to HK...and the timing was poor. Especially if you wanted to go into town, get something done and come back. So, tai-tai was stuck traveling into HK, attending to her appointments, staying the night at the Hyatt and then returning home the next morning. Initially, it was an OK trip...but as the pregnancy advanced...well, you get the picture. A hot, sweaty, bulging tai-tai wasn't in the best of moods to make those trips.
But, when arriving at the Hyatt, she was always treated with special care...like stepping into an oasis of calm in a sea of hustle and bustle. Nearly every visit, she was met by Emily...a supervising manager of the shift. Emily would ensure tai-tai was checked in and everything was OK. Tai-tai and Emily struck a friendship around these visits as tai-tai would update her on the progress of the baby and Emily could see the advancing...size!
After expat son was born, we returned to the Hyatt for a routine weekend shopping trip to HK and there was Emily. She was there to watch expat son grow up from a new born baby to a rambunctious 4 yr old by the time we left Chiner the first time.
As Expat son grew up, she was the one familiar face in the hotel he could count on as well. Soon, as he began talking...he began to refer to the Hyatt as 'Emily's House.' Because, you see, we would always visit Emily and stay at her 'house.'
While returning from a home leave to the USA, with a stopover in HK (decompression, as we would call it), we headed to the Hyatt. As we returned from the airport, we grabbed a cab at the train station to take us to the hotel. As we headed down Canton Road and then made the turn up Hangkow Road, expat son began looking out the window and you could see his mind absorbing all the sights. We made the final right hand turn on to Lock Road and he blurted out...'Emily's House!!!' He was so excited to come back home and to stay with Emily again! We couldn't yet see the hotel, but he recognized all the familiar places.
Nearly one year after moving back to the USA, expat son cuddled up to tai-tai and quietly asked her, 'when are are going on a plane and staying at Emily's House again?' The stress of moving across the world was not lost on him, either.
When we moved back to GZ in 2004, we made the same taxi ride from the train station to the Hyatt. Expat son looked out the window and kept saying, 'this looks familiar.' The recognition was there...but he still wasn't sure...until we just started to turn up the driveway to the front door of the hotel...then it all hit him. We are back.
Emily has moved across the harbor to the Grand Hyatt. Expat son has already expressed his desire to visit her there on our next trip. But, there will only be one house that Emily lived in...
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