Far and Near

My Dearest Olivia,

I am writing this letter to you in deep sorrow and grieve. Your Tai Tai, my beloved mother and your great grandmother, went to be with the Lord today, at the age of 96. It is a great loss to our family as she has raised her children and grandchildren with such tender love and hard work. Though her life was harsh and difficult at times, especially during the war, she was never short of the most essential and precious thing in life - a family well bonded in love.

You may not remember her face because your were too young, only 7 moths old, when you met her last Christmas in Hong Kong, but you can look at the photographs and see how happy she was to have such a lovely great granddaughter. I regret that she did not have another chance to spend more time with you. She would enjoy it very much, as she did when your daddy and uncles were young.

Although we all feel the pain of her departure, we still wish to give thanks to God for giving her almost everything she needed to have an abundant life. She enjoyed reasonably good health until a few months ago, and it was a true blessing from above. We are blessed too, because we have the assurance that she is now resting peacefully in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father. She seems to be far away, but yet still very near and close to our hearts.

How I wish to express more of my love, respect and fond memories of her, but right now I am stuck with words as my heart is too heavy. I promise to tell you more about this wonderful lady when you grow up.

Surely she will be missed in our family for a long, long time. 

Love always,
Grandpa

Your First Birthday

My Dearest Olivia,

Happy Birthday! We are so happy to be gathering in Toronto for this great family reunion on your first birthday.

Baby's first birthday is a special occasion, particularly to the parents, as it marks the first anniversary of his/her arrival to the family. It is even more so if the baby is the eldest child. The arrival of the first born usually changes the lifestyle of the parents. Livi, do you know ever since you were born last year your Mom and Dad's life have been centered around you? They spent a lot of time taking care of you and making all sorts of plans to ensure that you'll live comfortably and have a good education. Please remember that they were doing all these on top of their other duties and commitments in work and church which left them with little time to rest, but they were always in good spirits because they love you.

To an elderly person like me, my birthday still remains a memorable occasion. I consider it a reminder of the number of years I have been living in God's grace, and count my blessings as the years add up. So whenever you celebrate your birthday happily with family and friends, don't forget to give thanks to God who hold our days in His hands. Parties and gifts will bring you temporary pleasure only, the knowledge and assurance that God hold your life and future will give you perpetual peace of mind and joyful days.

Happy Birthday, the first of many more to come!

Love,
Grandpa

East and West

My Dearest Olivia,

We missed you in your first celebration of Chinese New Year, the year of the Ox. Your parents sent us your cute image above, dressed in traditional Chinese costume and holding up a red packet. We couldn't help posting it as wallpaper on our computers.

Unlike Christmas which is widely celebrated in Canada by people of different religions and ethnic backgrounds, Chinese New Year is only celebrated amongst the Chinese community. Even with the continuous growth of the Chinese population in Toronto, I think it would remain that way for a long time. Canada is a very special nation. Though she has her Native Indian and British historic roots, she now examplifies as a great nation in which people from different parts of the world are living in relative peace and harmony. We may be different in appearance and cultural habits, but we share and value many things in common. I am sure you must have already experienced this in school. Regardless of the color of their skin and ethnic background, you play and make friends with them. People of all nations are creations and children of God. If our Heavenly Father loves us all, why should we discriminate against each other?

However, as you grow up you may suddenly realize one day that you are of Chinese origin, you are different from people around you and you are a "minority". While I am writing this letter I cannot foretell how you would feel then. The only advice I can give you is this. Do not be afraid of being a "minority", stand up and be proud of who you are. You were chosen by God to be born in a Chinese family, and He may (or may not) have a purpose for that. Do you remember the story of Moses? He was born to a Hebrew family but grew up in the Egyptian palace. God had a purpose for him - to lead the Hebrew people out from captivity in Egypt. Moses was a noble in Egypt but he was proud of his Hebrew identity.

My dear Olivia, sometimes being a "minority" is not of an ethnical but ethical nature. When you face such a situation, please remember that your grandpa's advice is still the same - stand up and stand firm. Be courageous, uphold your principles and justice. You may find yourself standing there alone, but rest assured that God is on your side.

Canada is usually considered a western country while China, eastern. So here East meets West, and East mixes with West. Sometimes I wonder why we differentiate between East and West. Isn't the globe round and China is west of Canada as well? You continuously fly westward from Toronto to Hong Kong, right?

Take a look at your lovely red Chinese costume again. In the East red is traditionally the color of happiness, prosperity and passion. May you live a life full of happiness, prosperity and passion, in Canada where East blends well with West, or in wherever you may be.

Love always,
Grandpa

Your First Christmas

My Dearest Olivia,

Christmas is traditionally time for family reunions and we are so happy to have you and your parents visiting us in Hong Kong. Though it is incomplete without your uncles Al and Rob and Anut Lillian, we share the same spirit of togetherness and give thanks to our Heavenly Father for giving us such a tightly bonded family.

As Christians we celebrate Christmas in remembrance of the coming of Jesus Christ to the world to redeem us, but Christmas Day carries an additional meaning for us because it is also our wedding anniversary. This year marks our 39th anniversary and your first Christmas.

Of course it is also the first time you meet Tai Tai, your Great Grand Mother who is 96 years old. It is a big big blessing for an elderly person to see great grandchildren. Just look at the picture and you can see her joy. Tai Tai is not only a wonderful mother but also a loving grandmother as your Daddy and uncles will tell you. I am sure she loves and cherishes you dearly too.

Your 3-week visit brought everyone here a lot of happiness and laughter, and sweet memories that will last for a long time. You may be too young to remember where we spent our happy times, but the photo albums and video clips will bear witness to the enjoyable trips we made and the wonderful people we met and spent time with.

You often smile and show affection to people. I hope it is an indication of your pleasant personality that you have inherited from your parents. You would find it a valuable gift and an important key to building good relationships with people when you grow up.

How we wish you could stay longer. May the Lord be with you and keep you. Have a safe trip home. I am sure when we see you next time, you would have learnt many new tricks that will bring us more joy and laughter!

Love always,
Grandpa

Have and Have Not

My Dearest Olivia,

Even people in the street admire you as a beautiful, cute, sweet and lovely baby. While we are grateful that you have the good looks, the more valuable gift from God is that you are loved and cherished by so many people. It makes you a happy and contented baby. 

But do you know that in this world many children were born into poverty, deficiency, hunger, sickness and suffering? While you are always warmly clothed, surrounded by toys and enjoy nutritious meals prepared by your parents, hundreds and thousands of children your age out there are barely clothed, have no toys and go to bed, if they are lucky enough to have one, in hunger. 

This morning I was so pleased to receive an email from your Uncle Rob. He wrote to all family members:

Greetings Lams...
 
Before everyone jumps the gun and feels the urge to be festive and buys Christmas gifts, Lil and I want to initiate a new family tradition. Alex, Ivy, Lil and I did this last year and we think this is a great, meaningful and also practical way to share our love with each other and with the world by all pitching in a donation to a charity like world vision instead of putting gifts under each others' trees here.... 

Wow, I was impressed. Thanking God for our abundant gifts and remembering the poor and needy in our prayers are not sufficient. The Bible teaches us to put our love and concerns for them into action (James 2:15-17):

15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

It is our fervent prayer that you will grow up to be a charitable person. Beauty may pass away, but love never fails.

Love always,

Grandpa

Praise and Sing

My Dearest Olivia,

What a wonderful feeling to have you sleeping in my lap for one and a half hour this morning in the church nursery!  

You were such a lovely and adorable baby, so quiet and well behaved during the worship. At the beginning you were attentively watching your parents leading the congregation to praise and sing. I didn't know if you recognized your Daddy's voice through the microphone, but you were listening very carefully and seemed to understand that we were giving our praise to God with music, songs and prayers. When I softly hummed to the music, you relaxed comfortably and fell asleep in no time.

Olivia you must remember that it is a great blessing to be born into a Christian family and having parents who set you good examples of giving praise to God. Your home is always filled with the sound of music. Certainly we hope you have inherited some musical genes and would start your music lessons at a young age. Whether you are singing or playing instruments, you will learn that music is not only for personal enjoyment, but also a powerful tool to help your spiritual growth. Make good use of this gift and dedicate it to praise and worship, and you will always walk in His path with peace, joy, faith, hope and love.

Love always,

Grandpa

Love and Care

My Dearest Olivia,

Perhaps by the time you understand the meaning of "someone was born with a silver spoon in her mouth", you might not think that you were born that way. Yes, at the time of your birth your parents were not rich enough to afford giving you luxury items that money could buy, but they have given you all their love and care that no money could ever guarantee. Being born into a wealthy family is not necessarily a true blessing, but having loving and caring parents is certainly a precious gift from above.

You were lucky enough to be born at a time of peace in an affluent society. On the contrary, I was a war time baby, born in enemy occupied territory. Nevertheless I have no complaints, because it was a blessing in disguise. Only under such poor circumstances of extreme suffering, poverty and hardship would parental love shine out even more. Despite the lack of material provisions my parents took good care of me and provided me with all I needed to survive and grow up to be the person I am. When the war was over my father had no choice but to leave home and his loved ones to seek jobs in another city. My mom was left alone to shoulder most of the responsibilities of looking after me, a not very healthy baby, day and night. She suffered from so many scary incidents like having to rush me to emergency, and worrying about the shortage of medical care that was required to save my life. They seldom told me what they went through, I only learn about the details not long ago when my mother handed me a bunch of old correspondence between them during that period. I read those letters that were already turning yellow with age, discovering how great parental love could be. 

For all those I owe them so much that there is hardly anything I could do to repay them, except to become the same loving and caring parent myself. However, my challenge was much less severe, as your Dad and uncles were not born in such difficult times. Anyway, I am happy that your Dad has inherited what we value in our family - to love and care for our children.

So one day, my dearest Olivia, when you become a mother, it is your turn to demonstrate that you too have inherited this good tradition of our family.

Love always,

Grandpa