During the Chinese New Year, while exchanging greetings in our college classmates’ group chat, one classmate shared joyful news: her granddaughter had been born on February 13. Both the mother and the newborn belong to the Year of the Horse. My classmate, who lives in Chicago and will turn seventy this year, now has a daughter raising a child in Brooklyn.
Later I shared with her a phrase I had recently heard: 回味含量—literally, the amount of memory that is worth savoring when we look back.
Many retirees live quiet, uneventful lives. Their days pass peacefully, but sometimes without moments that later become stories to revisit or memories to cherish. Yet such moments do not appear by accident. They can be actively created—especially through time spent with family. For them, health and close relationships often become the most meaningful parts of life.
I can imagine my classmate flying to New York to hold her newborn granddaughter for the first time. Perhaps she will watch the baby sleep, or walk with her daughter in Brooklyn Bridge Park pushing a stroller. Years later, these ordinary scenes—holding tiny fingers, smiling at her first laugh, watching her take her first steps—may become the stories she tells again and again.
Today, many people associate having children mainly with the burdens of parenting and the high cost of education. In focusing on those immediate stresses and responsibilities, it is easy to lose sight of the larger perspective of human relationships. Raising a child also means nurturing a lifelong bond with a loved one — a person who grows with you, enriches your life, and becomes part of the memories you carry forward.
What makes these moments even more meaningful is that memory flows in both directions. Grandparents treasure the time spent holding a baby, watching a child grow, and telling stories. Those same moments also become part of the child’s world. In this way, the simple act of spending time together creates the emotional memory of the next generation.
The idea of 回味含量 reminds us to build a life that will still feel meaningful when we look back years later. Money alone rarely creates such memories. More often, they come from relationships, shared experiences, and the time we spend with those we love.
In that sense, it is not just about personal nostalgia. It is about continuity. The moments we create with those we love ripple forward, becoming part of someone else’s story. And when we look back at the years, we may realize that the richness of life lies not in what we accumulated, but in the memories we helped create together.
3/5/2026