Today I want to tell you a story.
A story of a little girl and a little boy. They grew up in the worst of times. A cultural revolution. Mass starvation, violence, and unhappiness was all they came to know as children.
The little girl never met her mother, who died bringing her into a world of suffering she herself desperately wanted to leave.
The little boy grew up without his father, who lived out the days of the boy's childhood in a labor camp.
The little girl would walk by a sweets store every day. She would tug on her father's hand each time, hoping that just once, the outcome would be different. That he would say: "Yes, we can afford it. We can afford to be happy."
But that day never came. She grew up watching the life she wanted go by on the other side of the windowpane with her nose pressed against the glass.
The little boy learned early on that humanity always takes a back seat to survival. He killed his first chicken when he was 6. The memory of those panicked squawks, the feeling of life leaving the chicken, followed the boy into his dreams.
Killing destroys parts of the soul. Innocence is lost. The boy lost part of his soul that day.
Yet both children, borne in the unhappiest of circumstance, broke free of their shackles through the pursuit of excellence. The little girl practiced violin for eight grueling hours a day. The little boy devoured any book he could get his hands on and built his first radio when he was nine. On the cusp of adolescence, both children left the land of unhappiness in search of a different one. One that would say Yes to their deepest wishes.
They arrived in America. The little girl, now a young woman, studied violin at a university. She lived with an American family and earned her keep by scrubbing the floors, cooking, and whatever else the family did not want to suffer through themselves. Yet, resentment never found its way into the woman's heart. She went to bed every night with a full stomach, optimistic of what the future held. For once, she felt in control of her own happiness.
The little boy, now a young man, studied engineering at a university. Fortunately, he found his home living his aunt and uncle. His first meal in America was an all-you-can-eat buffet. He ate his weight in steak and lobster. Abundance was a reality entirely foreign to the young man. One he very much liked.
to be continued...