Happy Chinese New year here in a few days! (February 7th). I love Chinese New Year, I remember as a child my mom would cook these huge feasts, well she still does. Noodles, whole chickens, duck, whole fish, rice, all sorts of yummy goodies. Family and friends would come over and we'd eat for hours on end. Talking and enjoying each other’s company.
My mom would take the day off from work if it fell on a work day to prepare the house and food; you knew something was important if either of my parents ever took a day off from work. Unless they were VERY sick or one of us kids were sick and had no one to watch us they were at work, and they worked hard. My parents have an amazing work ethic. I am sure it has to do with the fact that they came over to the states in the 1970's, fleeing a war torn homeland. They came to the US with nothing but the clothes on their backs and not a lick of English. My parents never have used this as an excuse for anything, if at all they use their past as a stepping stone, a launching pad. I am so very proud of my parents; they live the American dream, good jobs, retirement, a marriage that has survived 30 years, the ability to provide for extended family, several properties. We were never well off growing up; I didn't have the latest name brand anything. But I never went without what was important to my parents, a strong family unit, close friends, good food on the table, family vacations, frequent get-togethers with loved ones, and a good education. We were always having people over and my mom would make simple but yummy meals, if we went on vacation we made sure to stop and see family along the way. My parents wanted us to have a connection with family. Now that I am older I appreciate their efforts, what a blessing to have loved ones that you are close to. It's a heritage, it was their short newly grounded roots in a new land and they wanted to preserve that and grow it strong for us. In spite of preserving who they were my parents urged my brother and I along, to flourish as first generation Americans. There was and is a sense of pride to be an American that comes from my parents. Sure they love their place of birth, but America is home. And as far as my parents were concerned all the opportunities that came with her were open to us. They didn't look with rose colored glasses at any obstacles that were and would come our way, they just pushed us past them and urged us on. For that I am grateful, even though I didn't always appreciate or understand it as a child, especially as a teenager. I didn't understand why all the other kids could do so many "fun" things, hang out, get summer jobs, or just slack off. Education was so important to my parents that a lot of those things were put on the back burner. In spite our protests and rebellion- ok my rebellion not so much my brothers. :-)
OK back to Chinese New Year. When I became a believer in Christ there was a time where these kinds of celebrations were very hard for both me and my mother. I had a strong conviction about them. Most festivals and celebrations are so strongly rooted in culture and religion that they are so intertwined that rarely is there one without the other. To my mother they were part of her legacy, part of her life she left behind that was important for her to pass on to us. There were a couple of celebrations that I ... wall flowered. I showed up, but I didn't pray or bow as everyone else did. I know this hurt my mother. My conversion to Christianity tested our relationship. I was young, stubborn, and on fire for Christ. Nothing wrong with being on fire, but I think as I have grown in my walk there is a different fire, one that understands the freedom in Christ and the deep love that beckons us to love others with a pure love. I still don't pray at temples or at alters, but I am able to be more invisible than sticking out like a sore thumb at these times. My mother and I have renewed our relationship.
The point of this post was to say that I am having a New Year party for my girls and some of their friends, nothing spectacular. Just good food and friends. Nothing fancy, and some of it nontraditional (Like the fortune cookies). But I hope that I make memories for my children and give them a sense of belonging to a culture and land that they may never truly experience. That I would begin to instill in them the love, togetherness and importance of family and friends my parents instilled in us through their actions.
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