North Vancouver Author's Decade-Long Journey to Document Unconventional Childhood
Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho has spent nearly ten years crafting her powerful new memoir, The Astronaut Children of Dunbar Street, which offers an intimate exploration of growing up in Vancouver while her parents supported the family from across the globe in Taiwan. The North Vancouver writer struggled to determine the most authentic approach to share her deeply personal and sometimes challenging story before ultimately committing to the memoir format.
A Family Separated by Oceans and Circumstance
Ho arrived in Canada at age nine as the youngest of five children. In 1983, when she was just twelve years old, her parents—a doctor and hospital administrator—returned to Taiwan for work, leaving her twenty-one-year-old brother in charge of Ho and her three sisters, aged fifteen, seventeen, and nineteen. This arrangement created what would later be termed an "astronaut family," a concept formally identified in anthropologist Aihwa Ong's 1999 book Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality.
The memoir captures the unique reality of children navigating adolescence largely without parental guidance, set against the backdrop of Vancouver's west side during the early 1980s. Ho's narrative not only documents her personal experience but also reflects broader themes of immigrant identity and the Taiwanese struggle for international recognition.
From Fiction to Raw Truth: The Writing Process
Ho initially attempted to approach her story through humorous childhood anecdotes, finding it easier to remain on the surface of her experiences. She later considered fictionalizing the account of siblings left to manage a household independently. However, participation in several writing residencies prompted a significant shift in perspective.
"I realized that if I truly wanted to reclaim my childhood, I had to put myself directly on the page and stop hiding behind fiction because it was easier," Ho explained about her decision to embrace the memoir form two years ago.
The Weight of Silence and Cultural Expectations
Throughout her youth, Ho's parents emphasized that their family situation should remain private. This directive created numerous challenges for a child navigating school and social environments. Ho learned to make excuses for her parents' absence from parent-teacher nights, maintain excellent grades to avoid attention, and even forge her mother's signature when necessary.
"My parents just kept saying, 'Don't talk about it. Don't tell outsiders about the family because they wouldn't understand. They will just judge us,'" Ho recalled. "Even within the family, we couldn't talk to our parents because they were working really hard, and there was a bit of that Asian guilt trip thing—'We're working hard for you, so don't complain.'"
This enforced silence proved emotionally exhausting and confusing for a developing child. Without the language to process her experience or opportunities to discuss it openly, Ho internalized her feelings, which manifested as anger, hurt, and shame. She developed an eating disorder during her early teenage years, a consequence of the emotional burden she carried alone.
A Story of Reclamation and Understanding
The Astronaut Children of Dunbar Street represents more than just a personal history—it serves as an examination of transnational family dynamics, immigrant adaptation, and the psychological impact of parental absence. Ho's decade-long writing journey has produced a work that gives voice to experiences often kept hidden due to cultural expectations and practical necessity.
The memoir stands as a testament to the resilience of children navigating complex family arrangements while offering insight into the Taiwanese immigrant experience during a specific historical period. Through her honest recounting, Ho provides both personal catharsis and broader social understanding of what it means to grow up between worlds.
