Something Amiss
I woke up at 2:00 a.m. feeling that something was amiss, and it was making me feel unsettled. I lay in bed until 3:00 and decided to get up because it was clear that I was not going back to sleep. Something didn't feel right, and I felt the need to figure it out. When I walked into our home office I could see down the hallway to Cici's bedroom. Her light was on. I found her in her room, asleep in bed, glasses still on her face, her electronic dictionary/translator beside her in the bed, on top of her study notes for her quizzes in English and History today. The lamp beside her bed was lighting up her room.
We studied hard last night until we completed her homework. At that point she told me to go to bed and she would study for her quizzes. Her effort to prepare for them was quite evident. She barely stirred when I removed her glasses; just snuggled deeper under the covers. Just sleep, Sweetie, I told her when her eyes flickered a bit. I removed the study papers and translator from her bed and turned out her lamp. In less than two hours I will be waking her up so we can go to band practice.
I made some coffee and I am sitting in our home office, thinking. It is at moments like this that I wonder if I have improved Cici's life or made things more difficult for her by bringing her to America. I think the honest answer is that short-term, her life is more difficult than it would be if she were still in China. I believe, however, that her longer term prospects are better because she came to America. Becoming a U.S. Citizen will open many doors for her. She will have opportunities in life that would never have existed for her if she had stayed in China. At least that is what I tell myself ...
The older sister of Cici's Vietnamese classmate came to pick her up from our home around 6:15 last evening. It was her first day of school at the University of Houston. These sisters strike me as having a lot of class. They are very respectful, and they have that look of success on their faces. They are here on education visas and they may never become U.S. Citizens, but they are making the most of the opportunity to study in America. I have found that to be true of the other Asian students at Cici's school. One look at the top level honor roll proves their desire to excel despite their language limitations.
In less than 48 hours Ping will be in Shenzhen, the first leg of her journey back to Houston. And what about her life? Is it better now than before? She lived a good, comfortable life in China before we met. I know she has been happy here in Houston, but in some ways, I believe that she made a sacrifice in coming here so that she could give Cici new opportunities in life. I think, and I hope, that she and Cici feel that the family we have is worth any sacrifices they have made to be here. Time, as we sometimes say, will be the determining factor.
We studied hard last night until we completed her homework. At that point she told me to go to bed and she would study for her quizzes. Her effort to prepare for them was quite evident. She barely stirred when I removed her glasses; just snuggled deeper under the covers. Just sleep, Sweetie, I told her when her eyes flickered a bit. I removed the study papers and translator from her bed and turned out her lamp. In less than two hours I will be waking her up so we can go to band practice.
I made some coffee and I am sitting in our home office, thinking. It is at moments like this that I wonder if I have improved Cici's life or made things more difficult for her by bringing her to America. I think the honest answer is that short-term, her life is more difficult than it would be if she were still in China. I believe, however, that her longer term prospects are better because she came to America. Becoming a U.S. Citizen will open many doors for her. She will have opportunities in life that would never have existed for her if she had stayed in China. At least that is what I tell myself ...
The older sister of Cici's Vietnamese classmate came to pick her up from our home around 6:15 last evening. It was her first day of school at the University of Houston. These sisters strike me as having a lot of class. They are very respectful, and they have that look of success on their faces. They are here on education visas and they may never become U.S. Citizens, but they are making the most of the opportunity to study in America. I have found that to be true of the other Asian students at Cici's school. One look at the top level honor roll proves their desire to excel despite their language limitations.
In less than 48 hours Ping will be in Shenzhen, the first leg of her journey back to Houston. And what about her life? Is it better now than before? She lived a good, comfortable life in China before we met. I know she has been happy here in Houston, but in some ways, I believe that she made a sacrifice in coming here so that she could give Cici new opportunities in life. I think, and I hope, that she and Cici feel that the family we have is worth any sacrifices they have made to be here. Time, as we sometimes say, will be the determining factor.
What is the name of your book? – “No Price to Great”…maybe you should have renamed it “The Sacrifices that We Make”. I’m sure there are millions and millions of untold stories such as yours. My mother made the same type of decision at an early age (15) to come to America to be with my father. Back then it was pre-arrange marriages by both families. I for one am thankful for her sacrifice to give up her family and friends to come to the USA for the sake of making a new family and watching her children grow up. It was fifteen years later before she went back to visit her family. Why did it take so long? She’s the only one that can answer that but I am very thankful that she did come here after visiting where she was born and raised. Nice place to visit but I wouldn’t’ want to have grown up there.
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I don't know how close I got to her home town, but I spent a good bit of time in Athens and on the Island of Crete.
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Only you can find that answer for yourself, but Pings options in China were limited. Do you think she would have gone to Houston if she didn't think that life would be better her and her daughter?
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I think she is happy here, Smitty, and I believe she is glad she came. I still believe, however, that she made a sacrifice for our daughter by coming here. If not for Cici, I would have just joined Ping in China and we would have built our life together there.
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I'm going off of the iDea that she either moved to Houston, or had never had the pleasure of meeting you, and therefore staying in China. So -
Well, we know that she made certain sacrifices in moving across the world, but I don't think she would have done it if it didn't look to be a better choice than staying where she was. Which would have been a personal sacrifice also.
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I have an idea. I will pose the question to Ping in a few days. She will have fresh memories of China on her mind. Was it really as she remembered it? Or did her year in America change her perception about living in China?
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That sounds like a great iDea! I can't wait for her observations!
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