Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets” is the account of Jing-mei, an American woman on a pilgrimage to China to meet her half-sisters, abandoned by her mother in China during World War II. Jing-mei’s mother always hoped of reuniting with her daughters she left behind long ago, but she died of an aneurysm before the opportunity arose. Through chance, a friend of Jing-mei’s mother, still in China, spied the twins while shopping. …showed first 75 words of 251 total…

…showed last 75 words of 251 total…death, reasoning that Jing-mei did not appreciate her mother while alive. By the conclusion of the story, Jing-mei exhibits Chinese traits she once loathed in her mother and is overcome with joy when a picture taken with her and her new found half-twin sisters shows that “Together we look like our mother…to see, at last, her long cherished wish.” Jing-mei successfully carried out her mother’s wishes, finding her Chinese heritage along the way.