Family History Part I
It started out with how good the pizza from Costco was, but somehow I ended up asking my mother, “Why aren’t we living in Malden?”
My parents were born in Communist China and were the youngest of their family. They were raised in their own respective villages of Yung and Chen.
My dad’s side wasn’t very well-off. I still remember him telling me, “I used to eat roaches. Did you know they help with your bladder?” I looked at him in horror and stopped eating dinner. He also told me his favorite past time was chasing frogs, catching them, and then cooking them.
My mom said she was lucky. Her dad was in Hong Kong working in a bread factory. Occasionally he would send back money and bread crusts. “We would hang them on the clothesline and heat them in the sun. It was a snack.” My aunt was raising farm animals. My cousin still jokes about it. “She could raise pigs and chickens. Yet, she couldn’t raise my brother or me. I raised myself!”
My parents were the lucky ones in their family. They went to high school. Funny thing is they went to the same school, but never knew each other. They had met years later through their friends and had stayed connected via mail.
“Your father was in America. You know, it’s considered a good thing when a male is helping to support his family. That’s your dad. Always supporting and caring.”
My father had sent the first letter. My mother responded. And it continued just like that. Eventually, my dad flew back to China, married my mom, went on a couple of dates, and returned to America. Unlike my mom, her sisters’ and brothers’ marriages were all arranged. My sister considers my mom lucky because she had married someone she liked. Maybe 7-8 months later, after my dad left, my older sister was born. My grandma still remembers her as the loud one. “Wow, she was the noisiest baby. I raised 7 kids and never have I heard a baby scream as loud as her!” [Apparently, my sister would only quiet down when they took her out. Even as a baby, she knew she liked to be out of the house. Amazing.]
My dad eventually sent enough money to get my mom and my sister to America, where he had bought a house with his brother-in-law near the Projects in Brooklyn, NY. [This may or may not be accurate!] My dad had many jobs; majority of them involved a kitchen. After my other older sister was born, my dad’s workplace near Caesar’s Bay (the building next to the Kohl’s sign) was burnt down. Sometime between I was two and four, my eldest uncle on my mother’s side suggested my dad to come work at his restaurant in Malden, Mass. “Your dad would stay over at your aunt’s place or uncles’. He would sleep all over the place. When he had vacation days, he would come back home to see all three of you. ” And when my sisters didn’t have school, we would go see him.
My mom didn’t want my dad to travel as much as he did anymore, so suggested to move to Malden. The house next to my youngest aunt’s (on my mother’s side) was vacant and my parents had wanted it. My dad had haggled the price down to $100,000. [That’s a cheap house. And it’s such a big house! Four bedrooms, a big kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a big basement, big backyard, and a big attic. The bedrooms are so big!] But, my youngest uncle (also on my mom’s side) had heard about it and wanted to chip in. Eventually, my parents decided to stay in New York and gave the house to my uncle.
By the time she finished talking, we had finished our slices of pizza and drank our cups of Lemon Honey Tea. I left the table when she was explaining something. She was repeating something she said five minutes earlier.
In between this conversation, my mom had mentioned further history about my dad’s family and hers. But we could talk about that later. Let’s just say, I might have black relatives and my mom considers me 5th generation from my dad’s side. And my great-great grandfather was kidnapped to build that famous railroad! Yeah, that Transcontinental one! What?!
To be continued…
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