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Waiting: A True Story's Part II                Contents

When Wong’s father saw his weeping wife and silent daughter-in-law, he felt very guilty about his decision. Anxiety and regret were eating his soul. He lost his appetite and his health became worse. Sometimes he held his three-year-old grandson and sobbed; sometimes he murmured incomplete sentences to himself. He died with his inner pain a year later. Holding her mother-in-law and her son, Hou Wun stood in front of the grave sorrowfully. She cried in her heart, “Wong, where are you?”

One day, Hou Wun was cooking two eggs to celebrate her son’s sixth birthday. A cousin rushed in and said excitedly, “Hou Wun your letter.” Hou Wun opened the transferred letter with shaking hands. Then she cried joyfully, “Mama, Wong is alive. Thank Buddha.” She hugged her son and said, “Son this is your father’s letter.” The poor child had never seen his father, but he smiled back to his mother.

In the letter, Wong told her that he and other laborers were sent to a mine in the West of the U.S. as illegal workers. They did not know English and the circumstances of this strange country. They were so helpless that they could only obey the agent and his orders. He took from their salary the charges for their travel fees and his commission, and left only a little bit of money for their necessities.

The mine accident took five of Wong’ folks’lives. The agent covered the bad news and forbade the others to send letters to Hong Kong. Wong and his companions felt as though they lived in hell. However, they worked hard and helped each other. Eventually, after six years of hard work, they cleared up the debt of their greedy agent and gained their freedom. They wandered across the country from West to East.

Fortunately, Wong met an old uncle who lived in New York City and worked in a laundry. Because Wong still did not have a legal identity, he could not go back to his motherland. He sent home fifty U.S. dollars, which was all his savings. For Hou Wun this was big money she never had before, especially since it was the wages from her husband’s hard work.

In 1938, Japan began the brutal aggression on China. They attacked the important cities along the Eastern coast, such as Shanghai, Peking, Canto; the war was a great disaster to all Chinese people. Hou Wun lost the connection with her husband again. Wong’s mother, the poor old woman, could not bear the second blow, and died with her heart broken and longing for her son. Hou Wun touched her son’s head and sighed. “Son, it’s only you and me now.” “Why did Grandma leave us?” the sobbing child asked. Hou Wun hugged him tightly and could say nothing.

In 1942 came the most difficult period in the Sino-Japanese war. Japan boasted that they would occupy all of China in one more year. They quelled Chinese protection by brutal bombing and killing. Before the Japanese army attacked their village, Hou Wun and her son fled from the village to hide in a cave of the mountain with other folks. After ten days, the Japanese army left. Hou Wun and the folks come back to the village. What a terrible scene! Houses were burnt down. Garbage, waste, and the corpse of animals were thrown everywhere. Hou Wun looked at her destroyed house, grasped her son’s hand, and said, “The Japanese can destroy our house, but they can never conquer our hearts.” She dug out a bag of rice and some sweet potatoes, which had been hidden under the ground. But she saved the food for her son.

The hard life made Hou Wun change a lot. Her hair turned gray. Deep wrinkles appeared upon her face. She looked much older than her age. Only her eyes were bright, as of as if she had a firm belief in her heart. One day an old neighbor said, “Hou Wun, Wong left you so long ago. It is difficult for you to bring up your son by yourself. Have you considered remarrying to another man?” Hou Wun shook her head and simply answered, “No!” Actually, life was not easy. The long waiting was torturing her soul. Sometimes at midnight, through her tearful eyes, Hou Wun gazed at her sleeping son, and tried to find a resemblance to his father, because the image of Wong in her heart was faint after the long separation. Sometimes she murmured, “Wong, you always advised me to look forward. Do you think that the dawn will be coming soon?”

The explosion of the nuclear bomb forced the Japanese to announce their surrender to the world in June 1945. Hou Wun and her son happily joined with folks to celebrate the victory. She thought that the dawn really came.

In September 1945, when Wong’s letter arrived, Hou Wun was so excited that she could not open it. Her son read the letter to her. Wong worried about the safety of his family, because there were various rumors about Taishan in Farkei. He was not a rich but a skillful laundry worker. He would remit some money after he got a response from Hou Wun. He also planned to come back home. Hou Wun grinned with delight and said, “Thanks, Buddha. My waiting will be ended.” But after two months, another letter from Wong said that he could not come back soon, because the government allowed foreign immigrants to apply for immigration for their family. For the application, Wong had to confess that he had been married and had a son, and that would take time to get permission. Hou Wun felt very disappointed and became nervous. She yelled, “Wong, I don’t want to go to Farkei. I just want to come home!” He son did not know how to comfort her, except by holding her gently.

After almost two years, the joyful day came at last. Wong returned to his motherland. Hou Wun was frozen for a moment when her beloved husband stepped in the house with folks around. Their son, who carried his father’s suitcase, stood beside Wong. “Is he Wong?” thought Hou Wun. His hair was almost white, and was combed tidily. His bent back made him look shorter. He wore a white shirt and a light blue tie, and a deep blue jacket. He was active in talking to relatives and folks. Wong’s appearance and character were changed a lot. Hou Wun looked at him as at a stranger. Uneasily, she gripped her old style black coat as complex feelings were rising in her heart. Happy and bitter, excited and nervous, were all mixed up together. She could not decide what the feeling was. Wong held Hou Wun’s hands tightly and gazing at her, said, “Wun, thank you for everything” Ah! This was his familiar gaze, which always affected the depths of her heart. Meanwhile, Hou Wun opened her trembling mouth without any words. Her tears streamed down.

When Wong was talking with their so in the other room, Hou Wun opened Wong’s suitcase and found the worn-out Chinese man’s shirt which she had made by hand. It made her recall her long waiting.

......

“Wun.” She started from her memory and sensed that her husband had been standing beside her. He held her in his arms and said affectionately, “Dear, when I ware it in Farkei, I felt as if you were staying with me. It is not only your sewing, but also the support role of my spirit, my precious treasure. I am very sorry for letting you wait so long and having a bitter hard time. But I swear that I won’t leave you again. We will live together forever.” Truly, Wun was moved by her husband’s words, but she also felt the distance between him and her. Maybe she could not forget the torture of the long waiting, could not step out from the shadow of bitter waiting.

She did not completely forgive her husband. She came to New York, but she was sad and silent.

The problem of Abusing Children                           Contents

Nowadays, abusing children is one of the problems of our country. Even though the government has paid serious attention to it, cases of abused children happen increasingly.

Watching television news, I know a young mother hit and shook her four-year-old daughter and was arrested by the police. That made me startled and sick.

We know that children are like small seedlings, and need parents to be their protectors, to take care of them with love. But some parents get pressure from their jobs, problems of finance, broken marriages, etc. They are irritated and get mad. Shaking or beating their kids is a way the express their rage. For example, this 26-year-old mother, Mrs. Toguda, became greatly irritated because a store did not make a refund for two pairs of jeans, and she complained about her daughter’s naughty running, so she became enraged and shook her little daughter. How can a little kid understand what her parents feel? How can the poor child protect herself from the beatings?

Actually, this violence either hurts their bodies or hurts their souls. Sometimes it can plant hatred in the children’s hears and split their relationship of the family. In fact, we are facing a lot of difficulty and pressure in our real lives. We should find out the right way to solve the problems and release the pressure, instead of beating innocent children.

It makes me think of another example in the Chinese community. There was a true story that happened in Brooklyn. A Chinese mother was arrested by the police because she hit her seven-year-old son with a small stick. She was astonished and confused, because she believed an old Chinese proverb: “The beating stick will bring you an excellent child.” So she argued with the police officer, “I love my son and want him to be a good boy. I punish him just to let him know what he had done was wrong. Why am I guilty?” Apparently, she had a good reason to beat her son, but did not know that she had abused her child. I disagree with her thinking. The old Chinese proverb means that if you love your children and want them to be excellent or behave well, parents should be serious in teaching or demanding good behavior of their children. This mother misunderstood. Besides, we are American residents now, so we should teach our children according to the American law. Children are also human beings. Parents need to understand what children think and should explain everything to them patiently, help them get rid of trouble, and always be close friends to their kids.

How to treat and teach children is a big lesson. Many experts on teaching children have offered some good opinions. Parents should learn them

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