Memories of a dried-up old bag!

When I first approached Cologne asking if I could write her biography she refused. Apparently it would have been breaking Amazon traditions if she told of her life to an outsider. So, saying that I understood I thanked her for the tea and the time and went on my merry little way. That’s why I was so surprised when she called me a couple of weeks later saying she had changed her mind. I was ecstatic, a woman the likes of Cologne agreeing to allow me to interview her.

Now here I am sitting in front of a woman that most consider ancient, waiting to do the interview of my life. Brushing a stray lock of hair from my face, and readjusting my glasses. I pick my pen and paper off of the counter, press the record button the tape and ask one question, "Are you ready?"

Her answer is a smile and a nod. I didn’t realize it then but with that smile and nod the journey was about to begin. A journey that would take me to the deepest regions of Colognes heart, and soul.

So it is with great pride and deep regret that I bring to you the life of a Chinese amazon.

"I suppose you are wondering why I had the sudden change of heart. Well I will tell you. I am not doing this for you, nor am I doing this for myself. I am doing this for one person, and one person alone…my granddaughter Shampoo. I realize that by telling the story of my life to an outsider I am breaking amazon traditions, but I feel the need to tell of my life so far, in hopes that it will open the girl’s eyes. I could just sit her down and tell all of what I know and have been through in my life. However this way she will be able to look back on my life when I am gone and know that I was not just her grandmother and an elder of the tribe, but that I was also a mother, a teacher, a lover…and most of all a woman.

Now what do you want to know? Let me guess you would like me to tell you about my younger years, am I right? Very well, if you insist.

I was born in the year 1899 to a farming family in the village of Xiashi of the Zhejiang province. At birth it was decided by my parents that I would be named Hsu Xiao-yi. Hsu being the family name, Xiao meaning either small or laugh, in my case it was small, and yi meaning one. So, in essence my name translated to small-one.

There is not much that I remember of my family but what I do remember I will share with you.

I was the youngest child in my family, but in the eyes of my parents my older brother was. That was the way of thinking in China back then. The sons were all that mattered because they were the ones that would continue the family name. While daughters were only visitors in the home. It may sound harsh, but in some ways it is true. Once a daughter was old enough to marry she would move in with her husbands family. That is why out of the five children in my family only three were considered part of the family.

My brother’s might have been thought more highly of then my sister and I, but they never acted that way. They never acted superior when we played or talked. Far from it, they treated us as equals. For my brothers knew a secret, they knew that whatever they could do, we could do perhaps even better. So when they played we would be invited to join in their games. I being the youngest was not allowed to join, for I was only a year or two old at the time. So instead I would sit and watch my mother prepare the meals, or watch the other children playing. There were times when my mother asked them to play with me, but that was on rare occasions. It mostly happened when we were expecting guests. Guests like the ones that arrived in the spring of my third year.

I was awoken early one morning by my mother. This was not an unusual occurrence, my mother often woke my sisters and I up in the early morning hours. What was unusual about it was the amount of attention she was giving me. Most mornings when my mother woke me, she would give me a little shake, make sure I opened my eyes and then leave my dressing to the care of my sisters. But that morning was different.

My mother woke me like always, but instead of leaving my washing and dressing to my sisters she took care of those duties. Their were no sounds of protests from my sisters, they took it all in stride, as if they knew why she was caring for me. Of course I didn’t know it then but they did know, for they both went through the same thing when they were my age.

I knew not why my mother was caring for me like she was, but I was about to find out. It was after breakfast when they arrived. Two women who I had never seen before but who were obviously known to my mother, for when she saw them she threw the door open and ran to embrace them. She showed them the way in to the house. I thinking that this would be a chance for me to play with my siblings started to make my way out to the yard, only to be stopped by my mothers hand on my shoulder. She looked down at me and told me that today I would not be playing with the others for the guests were here to see me.

I was bewildered, in my short life I had never received guests before, but I knew better then to question my mother. If she said that the guests were for me then they must be for me. Picking me up, my mother carried me in to the room to join the to ladies. As we entered the room the conversation between them ended and the attention focused on me. My mother placed me on the ground in front of them and I looked up at them, eyes wide.

They were beautiful, much more beautiful then my mother. I didn’t think that was possible for my mother was one of the most, if not the most beautiful women in the province. But here sitting before me were two women who made my mother look not like the pearl that she was, but like a stone covered in mud and dull from abuse.

I forgot my manners and stared at the two, taking in every aspect of them and storing it to my memory, for I wasn’t sure if I would ever see them or anything that compared to them again. Little did I know that not only would I see them again but I would get to know the two of them almost as well as I know myself