Mrs. Chan

Mrs. Chan is my patternmaker. We have a special fortune or fate together (no exact word in English). She was the first patternmaker I've ever worked with for AIRA in the winter of 2007. I worked with her by default because she was the house patternmaker for that particular factory/sample house. From the day we met her, she was always very gentle and nice with a motherly aura. That factory owner Sherry-ah-ee drove me nuts and never made us feel like we were a valued customer, so we decided to leave without saying bye to anyone, including Mrs. Chan.

2 years passed by, and we have reconnected with Mrs. Chan! The factory we work with, after Sherry-ah-ee, is owned by 2 incredible people, Terri and Peter. I would work with them always if I could. They are quite expensive, so as long as I can afford them, I would. Nevertheless, they are great people and Terri knew that we were looking for a new patternmaker, so she asked around. We mentioned to her Mrs. Chan, but we had no idea what her name was, only who she worked for and where. In my culture, we call an elder lady Ah-EE. Everyone is an ah-ee and that was what we called Mrs. Chan, so we never knew her last name. Terri gave us 3 numbers of great patternmakers to call. Two were Chinese and one was Taiwanese. The first 2 that I called was super nice, but they both said they can't do after work jobs. They're too tired. I totally understood because it is a lot of work, especially if you're standing the whole day bending over paper. Plus, these ladies are not young. They're all about my mom's age. Then the last number I called was a "Mrs. Chan." I had a feeling it was the lady we loved, and I was RIGHT! Right when I heard her voice and when she heard mine, we recognized each other! And to my surprise, she said she would be delighted to help us after her job. She said that it wasn't too busy at her work now due to the economy, so she definitely wants to help us.

I feel super lucky to have reconnected with her because she's a great lady. She genuinely wants us to succeed and will take whatever payment we can give her. She is also teaching me at her house on the weekend, which I feel super grateful for. WHY AM I SOOOOO LUCKY?! I'm not sure if it's luck or simply someone above helping me out...but, I have met a lot of good people in my life. AIRA is very lucky.

I will continue about Mrs. Chan immigrating over here to the states in the next blog. I'm going to go eat breakfast now.