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The Mainichi
16-05-2025
- The Mainichi
More than 30, including 4 Japanese, injured in Taiwan bus accident
TAIPEI (Kyodo) -- More than 30 people, including four Japanese nationals, were injured Friday when a bus crashed into a wall at an international airport in northern Taiwan, local media reported. The accident occurred at around 1:35 a.m. as the vehicle was departing a terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for Taipei Main Station in Taipei, the reports said. Most of those involved sustained minor injuries and were discharged from hospital after receiving treatment. Among the injured, 22 were foreigners, including 11 South Koreans, according to the reports.
Hindustan Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Woman writes novel to say goodbye to her ‘dead mother'. Then this happens
Author Stefany Valentine lost all hopes of meeting her mother after not having any contact with her for 25 years and even feared that she had died. But on New Year's eve of 2023, a call from her sister-in-law changed her life. For the first time, in over two decades, in August 2024, Stefany came face-to-face with her mother Meiling Valentine. Speaking to Stefany said she wondered whether she would be able to recognise her mother in the crowd after all these years and safe to say, she added, "I did." "It was just so good to hug her for the first time. I needed that hug," the author said. At the time of Stefany's reunion with her mother at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the author was working on her debut novel called 'First Love Language'. Her novel is based on Catie, a Taiwanese-American teen and adoptee, who looks to reconnect with her origin roots by learning Mandarin. A 31-year-old Stefany said that she used the novel, in some ways, "to really say goodbye, to close the door" on finding her birth mother. Meiling was married to Lt. Col. Todd Merrill Valentine and had five children with him. The family used to move around a lot because of Todd's career in the Air Force, spending time in Texas (where Stefany was born), Taiwan and South Dakota. When Stefany was five-years-old, her parents got a divorce and all the kids went into Todd's custody. Their father moved them back to the States and their mother, Meiling, who did not speak any English, was cut of their lives. When Meiling lost ties to her children, she told "I almost collapsed." She said that the language barrier, lack of money and work experience, did not help in being able to find solution. "It was unfair treatment." Despite all these years, Stefany notes that her mother did not have the resources that her dad did even though she tries to maintain a "neutral" stance on their relation. Stefany said that she was made to believe that Meiling was "dangerous" and "neglected" her children. However, she said, that was another cultural divide as she didn't feel neglected in Taiwan. The author recalls that her and her siblings left behind their Taiwanese culture in America. "It was 'Go to school, speak English, assimilate, we're not doing that that anymore. And I think that was that. Losing a mother is one thing, and then losing your culture," she told While Stefany initially struggled to get a hold on English, her escape methods eventually led her to a writing career. When Stefany turned 8, Todd remarried. Her stepmother, Cindy, brought into the family her four children from a previous relationship. Cindy became a single mother to nine children when Stefany's father passed away in 2006. But the loss led the author to struggle with depression. Stefany said that growing into her teenage years, the rage from the loss of her father and her birth mother's absence, only increased. She was reportedly sent to live with other family members throughout majority of her high school years by Cindy. She was allowed to move back in her senior year. While looking for answers about Meiling, Stefany sought refuge in writing. She wrote a short story for the young-adult anthology, 'When We Become Ours', which points at the adoptee experience. The experience from this work led her to rework her first novel, First Love Language, into a more adoptee-focused piece. She looked historical and genealogical records in her attempts to find Meiling. But several psychichs indicated that Meiling had died, leading to Stefany putting an end to her search. On New Year's 2023, she got a surprising call. "My sister-in-law calls me and is like 'There is a Taiwanese lady in our Mormon church, and she grew up with your mom, and she's going to find her for you'." Initially, Stefany and her siblings were able to reconnect with Meiling via texting and though her siblings were not as much open to the idea of reunion, Cindy facilitated the author's trip to Taiwan. The author said that since Cindy worked with Delta, she was able to provide her with flight and everything. The day finally came in August, Stefany and Meiling were reunited. In the lead up to their first meeting at the encounter, Stefany said, "Nervous, anxious, scared, excited, everything — what wasn't I feeling? It was like Christmas, when you're going to bed and you're like, 'I'm going to get to open the presents tomorrow?' It was very much that for weeks leading up to it, just like, 'One day closer. One day closer.'" The mother-daughter realized how much similar they looked. The two made up for their long-lost time during Stefany's two-week trip to Taiwan last year. Stefany and Meiling went hiking, visited street markets, spent night in an aquarium and even celebrated the latter's birthday with a cake. 'She was like, 'This is the best birthday I've had in 20 years,'" Stefany said. During the second week, Cindy also visited Stefany and Meiling in Taiwan. The birth mother and the stepmother thanked each other for Stefany. Stefany's Taiwan visit also sparked her desire to learn Mandarin. She has applied for the local Chung Yuan University, where she is all set to start the term in the fall. The author said that with the help of her studies, she wants to facilitate reunions between her mother and the other siblings, and to eventually tell Meiling's story. "I want to write a memoir, for sure. But this memoir, I want it to also be her memoir and I want to be able to tell her story and all the complexities of it as well as I can in addition to writing my story," Stefany told Stefany said that now she does not want to waste any more time.
NDTV
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Woman Writes Novel For "Dead Mother", And Then This Happened
A woman who thought her long-lost biological mother was dead and wrote a novel to say goodbye had the surprise of her life, one she least expected. Her mother was alive, and they reunited after 25 years. Stefany Valentine was in the middle of writing her first book, First Love Language, about an adoptee longing to re-establish a connection with her culture and to say "goodbye" to her birth mother, Meiling Valentine. The 31-year-old had given up on the possibility that she would ever get to see her mother. Ms Valentine is one of the five children born to Ms Meiling and Lt. Col. Todd Merrill Valentine. After her parents separated, Ms Valentine and her father relocated to the United States. Meiling eventually stepped away from their lives. But "there has always been a need to know," Ms Valentine told PEOPLE. She said she turned to writing as a coping mechanism, contributing a short tale about the adoptee experience to the young-adult anthology "When We Become Ours". After searching historical and familial records, she eventually gave up looking for her mother after several psychics told her she was dead. Then, on New Year's Eve 2023, she received an unexpected call. "There's a Taiwanese woman in our Mormon church, and she grew up with your mom, and she's going to find her for you," her sister-in-law told her. Ms Valentine and her siblings initially reconnected with Ms Meiling via text and eventually travelled to Taiwan to meet her in person. In August, they finally met for the first time in over 20 years. They reunited at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. "I was wondering if I would recognise her in a crowd, and I did. It felt amazing to give her my first hug. I needed that hug," Ms Valentine said. Talking about her experience, Ms Valentine said, "I was feeling anxious, nervous, scared, excited, everything." She claimed the resemblance was shocking. She and her 57-year-old mother made up for lost time during her two-week trip to Taiwan. They went climbing, exploring street markets, spending the night in an aquarium, and even celebrating Meiling's birthday. Ms Valentine noted that working on First Love Language was "very therapeutic." The book is about Catie, a Taiwanese-American adolescent adoptee who wants to learn Mandarin to re-establish a connection with her culture.
