a memo
I walk into my father’s old library. It’s filled with books from his work, his past. How do I know where to start? I pick a dusty, red book up with brittle pages. The book makes references to things I don’t even understand — my stupid American self grew up with no references to my cultural heritage. Some things that are so vague that I can’t comprehend what the topic even is. Then I think, 5 years ago, back when my father was alive, he said,
“If you learn something, start from the basics, then work up the difficulty.”
Why did I even think that? There’s so many other things I could’ve thought about, but it had to be this thought, it really had to -
start from volume 1. I start from the beginning, my fathers origins. He was born in Nanjing to a poor family. He tested a full score in the Chinese ACT and went to Tsinghua University. He worked so hard, so hard, to get to the United States, when thriving in the US is almost impossible. Intrigued, I started the next volume talking about my father’s marriage and his personal struggles with others: his boss, his wife, and family, all pressuring him to do different things, stretching him like a rubber band.
And then i got to the third and last issue. Through the first and second, I easily understood the third issue: Giving birth to me. I understood that my father and mothers’ families pressured them to marry, to extend their family bloodline. I understood that, even though I was forced, I still was loved by my parents.
I understood my father.
Max is a 15-year-old student currently located in San Diego, California. In his down time, Max likes to program, practice his violin, and write!