During the research process for Sweet and Sour, I suddenly realized that I had relatives on my mother's side living in Saskatchewan that I had never met.  As I was learning that virtually every small town across Canada, especially in the prairies, had a small Chinese-run cafe, I wondered if my cousins had also had a Chinese restaurant.  After some effort, a bit of luck, and half a dozen phone calls, I was able to locate a second cousin by phone who confirmed that one cousin had in fact run a Chinese cafe in SK!

Several months later during a visit to Vancouver to speak about "Sweet and Sour" at Foo's Ho Ho Restaurant, I was able to finally meet my cousin and his family and share with them the history of my mother's life in the U. S.  They had never met her but were eager to know more about her as her remittances to them in China were greatly appreciated.  

This chance encounter was an unexpected, but welcome, personal dividend for me in writing "Sweet and Sour."