my aunt & uncle have moved to montreal for 13 years. i never really found out the exact reasons, but i guess god brought them there, for they are there to run a church which serves the chinese community.
i moved to sydney as a kid, and have always been looking at the benefits of immigration from the kids' perspective - how it gives kids a much wider exposure in life, being multi-lingual ... etc.
in montreal this time, i learn immigration from the perspective of parents, strangely, for the first time.
what kind of courage was needed to start all over again at mid-age? to get off a plane from sunny 20C hong kong into -40C snowstorm? to leave family whom you can speak your mind, to land into a community where all speaks french?
like many chinese parents, the courage came from the hope of a better future for their kids. and as kids like us reap the benefit of it all, we often mock about how our parents aren't trying hard enough to fit into the community, and are never thankful enough for what we put them through.
i really don't know how they did it, but my aunt & uncle have long gone from puzzle to pleasure. they take walks in parks over a cup of tim hortons coffee, they sizzle up a BBQ at their little balcony over sunset, they take the snowstorms in winter as just a tiny piece of cake, they miss their little girl but give full respect for her wish to take on her own life living miles apart in japan ...
as stylish as it sounds, none of it was dropped down from heaven for free. it was all well-earned.
is this what you call "aging with grace"? a much-respected couple indeed.
thanks for such a lovely time we shared.
2 comments:
We now have the luxury to know more about the world into which we leap when we decide to leap. Our parents would probably have greater (blind) faith in taking that leap than when we do the same for our kids. At the same token, this faith is probably stronger than any analysis of why we should take the leap.
Often people call the choices they make as "sacrifices". This mentality will surely bring resentment in later years if things do not turn out exactly how they wanted.
We can never be sure which way the crumbs would fall, no matter how steady we hold the biscuit. If you have made choices which seem to be the best at the time, the rest is up to your fate. Cannot and should not complain how things turn out.
However if you had not made the effort to find the best choice, acknowledge the mistake and move on.
thanks for the lovely post~
it made me teary...hehe.
thanks for spending time with them. I can tell they really enjoyed your company from talking on the phone with them.
i guess you are in vancouver now?
enjoy the rest of your trip~
love reading your blog~
Post a Comment