My mother turned 84 this past May and my oldest brother (age 57) died suddenly in December 2011. With these events, I've realized that all of sudden it has become my responsibility to record and tell the wonderful stories my mother has told me all these years to the next generation. Being the oldest granddaughter though not the oldest grandchild gave me the privilege and honor of listening to both my mother and grandmother who were wonderful storytellers. Going way way back will, I hope, be of interest to my younger siblings, my nieces and nephews and, most especially, to my daughter. So, here goes....
My grandmother on my mother's side (Lola Ekiang) was orphaned at the very young age of 10. With both parents gone, she went to stay with her aunt who was good to her. But her half-brother decided that she should stay with them. This half-brother's wife was cruel and mean to my grandmother. They made her do a whole lot of physical work without enough food for sustenance so she can keep doing this kind of labor. Don't forget this was a time when doing housework like cooking, laundry, planting, etc. was done without the benefit of machines to make the work manageable. This continued for quite some time (years). So much so that my grandmother remained slight in frame and frail all her life. She was always a beautiful but tiny woman. Her being slight in stature was not a hindrance in her determination to continue her education. There was a rich Chinese businessman in the town who was looking for a tutor for his children. My grandmother was a smart woman so this businessman accepted her for this position. This businessman's children were lucky to have my grandmother as a tutor because she was brilliant in all the subjects, with an expertise in the English language.While doing this work, she went back to school to become a teacher. Armed with a 7th grade education, she took the teacher's certification exam and passed. She could now work as a teacher in school. This is exactly what she did. While working as a teacher, she met my grandfather. My mother did not tell me details of their courtship but I remember vaguely some stories that my grandmother told me. My grandfather was tall and handsome so my grandmother was interested but always a little leery that he might not be the "faithful" husband she wanted. But love prevailed and they got married. Isn't this a sweet story? The tiny and frail princess with the handsome tall strong prince by her side going down the aisle to be married and joined forever as husband and wife. It gives me goosebumps just writing about it. Not long after they were married, my mother was born. She would be the first of 10 children. Two of them would not make it to adulthood. These 2 were both girls named Delia. One died at 18 months. The other Delia was a beautiful beautiful beautiful baby who grew to become a beautiful 6 year old girl. She was not only beautiful but kind and so willing to help with all the work and did so with a wonderful disposition. My mother always describes her in great detail and recalls her with such fondness. It isn't difficult to picture this beautiful child in my mind. My beautiful Aunt Delia fell victim to one of those childhood diseases that, in those days, were killers. As I said earlier, my grandmother was fabulous with English, so my mother learned English at a very young age. My grandmother felt that learning English this young would give my mother an advantage over all the other students once she started school. She was so right. My mother continued with this belief in her own life and spoke to us when we were young only in English. We learned the native tongue by having friends in the neighborhood. The next blog will cover stories of how my mother and her siblings grew up during World War II. Stay tuned...
My grandmother on my mother's side (Lola Ekiang) was orphaned at the very young age of 10. With both parents gone, she went to stay with her aunt who was good to her. But her half-brother decided that she should stay with them. This half-brother's wife was cruel and mean to my grandmother. They made her do a whole lot of physical work without enough food for sustenance so she can keep doing this kind of labor. Don't forget this was a time when doing housework like cooking, laundry, planting, etc. was done without the benefit of machines to make the work manageable. This continued for quite some time (years). So much so that my grandmother remained slight in frame and frail all her life. She was always a beautiful but tiny woman. Her being slight in stature was not a hindrance in her determination to continue her education. There was a rich Chinese businessman in the town who was looking for a tutor for his children. My grandmother was a smart woman so this businessman accepted her for this position. This businessman's children were lucky to have my grandmother as a tutor because she was brilliant in all the subjects, with an expertise in the English language.While doing this work, she went back to school to become a teacher. Armed with a 7th grade education, she took the teacher's certification exam and passed. She could now work as a teacher in school. This is exactly what she did. While working as a teacher, she met my grandfather. My mother did not tell me details of their courtship but I remember vaguely some stories that my grandmother told me. My grandfather was tall and handsome so my grandmother was interested but always a little leery that he might not be the "faithful" husband she wanted. But love prevailed and they got married. Isn't this a sweet story? The tiny and frail princess with the handsome tall strong prince by her side going down the aisle to be married and joined forever as husband and wife. It gives me goosebumps just writing about it. Not long after they were married, my mother was born. She would be the first of 10 children. Two of them would not make it to adulthood. These 2 were both girls named Delia. One died at 18 months. The other Delia was a beautiful beautiful beautiful baby who grew to become a beautiful 6 year old girl. She was not only beautiful but kind and so willing to help with all the work and did so with a wonderful disposition. My mother always describes her in great detail and recalls her with such fondness. It isn't difficult to picture this beautiful child in my mind. My beautiful Aunt Delia fell victim to one of those childhood diseases that, in those days, were killers. As I said earlier, my grandmother was fabulous with English, so my mother learned English at a very young age. My grandmother felt that learning English this young would give my mother an advantage over all the other students once she started school. She was so right. My mother continued with this belief in her own life and spoke to us when we were young only in English. We learned the native tongue by having friends in the neighborhood. The next blog will cover stories of how my mother and her siblings grew up during World War II. Stay tuned...
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