Last month, we traveled to Taiwan with our four kids. It was only after the trip as, I was sharing with friends about how it went, that I realized what a huge feat it really was. Thirteen hour plane rides and crazy jet lag was no joke and was as hard as it sounds, but besides that, the trip was amazing. We made so many memories on the trip, including really special time with Pat’s grandmother, visits with extended family and friends, many trips on the local trains and bullet train, and meal after meal of just pure deliciousness. Don’t even get me started on my obsession with dumplings. Amidst all that and some fancy meals that we had, my favorite meal we shared and one of my favorite memories was a picnic under a banyan tree.

Pat’s cousin Elizabeth is a professor at a college in southern Taiwan. Many weekends, she would see families and kids gathered under the towering banyan tree, and she always wished that someday she would be able to have a picnic with all her family and the little ones from far away. When we came, she planned the most thoughtful picnic. We pulled up to tables overflowing with boxed lunches, local fruits, milk tea, pineapple cakes and other treats, all sourced from the best local spots. Every single bite was so good.

It was pretty hot and humid that day, but the kids delighted in kicking around a soccer ball, checking out turtles in a pond nearby, and then observing a baby squirrel trying to scurry back up the banyan tree back to its mother. Endless treats of course too, they were in heaven.

The afternoon was so special, Elizabeth had a dream of a picnic and when she had the opportunity to bring it to life, she was so incredibly thoughtful and lavish. She brought along friends to help with the many details, including shuttling us from the train to campus and picking up food, and there was so much joy that day. Experiencing her dream come to life has stuck with me and makes me want to host gatherings where I focus on the important things. Loving my guests, being generous, and also just being free to have an idea and run with it a little. Like, a picnic under a banyan tree.

Thank you, Elizabeth for such a special afternoon! I will remember it forever.