Our House

Like the song says, our house is the best house. That's the way I think of our house in China. It is the house that I was born in, and I will always feel ties to it. I cannot remember too much at all about how it looks inside. But it is a two-family house. We lived in it along with my grandfather's No. 7 brother's family. I remember playing on the roof, and even going up to the very top of the pergoda. It was there that I first experienced the presence of our deceased ancestors. I remember telling my mother about these people that I couldn't quite 'see'. And she tells me not to be afraid because they were our family and they will protect me. Our house is still there today, in our village whose name literally means mountain top, in the region called Taisan, near the town of Dousan. (see my link for Taisan)

My Paternal Grandparents

My paternal grandparents are seen here with their youngest son, my uncle, Richard. He is a year older than me. My grandfather was known for his kindness and generosity. He would help anybody he could. Like most Chinese, he likes to gamble. He was a smoker and died from emphysema in his early 70's. He and his No. 2 brother ran a laundry in N. Battleford, Sask. for many years. He fathered three sons on his trips back to his homeland, China. Immigrants of his generation had a very hard life. They worked long hard hours, saving their money to send back to their families. My grandmother was known for her temper and thriftiness. I guess opposites do attract, even if the marriage was arranged! She was very traditional in her attitudes, in that she did not like girls. It was just as well that she had three sons. My grandparents lived many years apart in different countries, with only occasional visits home from my grandfather. They were united in 1957 when my grandmother and my 2 uncles immigranted to Canada.

My maternal grandparents

My grandfather was a teacher. He was very strict, but he was honest, kind and a good teacher. Because he was involved in village politics and such, he was a target for envy and maliciousness. He was a target during Maoist time and had he not been warned by friends, he would have been killed. He escaped to Hong Kong. And because of that, they arrested my grandmother instead. She was put in jail. They made her kneel on gravel and threw pails of water over her. People could come and throw insults at her. She was beaten and survived by the grace of heaven. Her sufferings are forever etched in her children's memory and on her face. Someday I would like to write my grandparents' life stories.

My mother's family

They live in New York. The picture was taken at the cemetery where their parents are buried. My mother is third from the right.