[Rhodes22-list] Gone West

[Brad Haslett]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and warm hearts!

Robert,

It has been such a privilege to get to know so many older Chinese.  Our
hosts in Kunming last month were in their 80's, retired school teachers, and
subject to their own version of hell as a result of their occupation and
education. You sure couldn't tell it from their zest for life. Fan's
favorite college professor, who died a few years back, always had a sparkle
in his eye when he talked about his students despite the decade there were
no universities.  Those people truly amaze me.

Kunming was the home to the Flying Tigers and the terminus of the "Hump
Route".  We were walking in a local park and passed through a
hundreds-of-years-old Buddhist temple. An ancient old man grabbed me by the
arm and I thought he was going to beg for money.  He asked Fan if I was an
American, and then he gave me a big hug.  They remember.

History is on our side with the Chinese.

Brad



On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 10:24 PM, Robert Skinner
<Robert at squirrelhaven.com>wrote:

> What those kind eyes must have seen over the last 3/4 century!
> Watching the sleeping giant awake and begin to find itself -- from the
> inside.
> Peace be with you and Fan.
> /Robert
>
> Brad Haslett wrote:
> > The phone rang around midnight last night (noon Beijing time) and my
> first
> > thought was, "this can't be good".  My older boys are finally well
> > established in their responsible young adulthood period so my next
> thought
> > was "parents".  Fan's father got up from the breakfast table, said he
> didn't
> > feel well and was going to lie down for a nap.  He never woke up...
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