End of the road

[Neil]

Thanks Gerry.  Still no word.  Hoping for a yes or no soon so I can hire a lawyer or bring her home. 

I'm enjoying your success and I love reading about it and seeing the pictures.  One day you'll be seeing mine.  Don't worry.

[shaun]

Gerry say hi to Grand Lake for me if you pass through.  It is my favorite place in Colorado.

The Alpine visitors center is great.  I was there maybe 15 years ago in August, was wearing shorts and a tee shirt with 10' ft of snow on the side of the road.  Loved feeding the birds as they swooped down to take the bread out of your hands.  My children thought it was the greatest.  The fishing at Grand Lake sucked though.  There had been a virus or something that had decimated the fish population the year before.

[Willy The Londoner]

It is three years almost to the the day that you first wrote on this thread.  To you it must have seemed like half a lifetime!

I have to hand it to you as living in China for so long was not your first choice you stuck with it and you now have the prize.

To me those three years have gone by so fast and believe me as you get older they really do pass by faster each day.

Willy

[john1964]

Great news Gerry, I sincerely hope that you Fiona  and Katie have a long and happy life together, John.

[LP]

 Congratulations to the end of this long road.And now a new one began, Best Wishes for the future.Quote from Gerry{She is going nuts exploring this house. It is like a castle to her. She has never seen anything like it. She has not even been in the basement. There is another 1000 square feet down there. I am having a blast watching her.}PS-Gerry wait tell she start exploring the city and see all the home are not like the home back home and my personal favorites !the washing machine and you don't have to put the clothes outside the window

[Arnold]

LP.....you don't have to put the clothes outside the window!

You'll be surprised when it comes to that. My LaoPo still takes some of them outside and specially her personals and it looks funny them hanging on the Patio for the neighbors to see. This is only of course if the Sun is out, otherwise it's hanging everywhere in the Bathrooms. Compared to mine, they never see the sunlight... much less the neighbors.

[Pineau]

Willy,

Living in China was my first choice. That is before I realized how long it was going to take to get a VISA. But I never imagined that it would take as long as it did.

I know China is your chosen home now and that some of my remarks may have offended you. So I will say publicly that China is not so bad a place. You just need to learn to avoid certain places, and certain types of people.

I lived in Shenzhen for a year,  and I really enjoyed it. But there was something about Guangzhou that irritated me. I know I bitched a lot but it was never directed at China or Chinese people as a whole.  I thought  I was specific about the person, place or incident that set me off.   

There are many, many incidents that I never mentioned. When you are out and about as much as I was you experience a lot of China , good and bad.  I tried to be tolerant but at times it just pushed me past my limits.  The bad stuff I will remember but Not as clearly as the temples, parks, beaches, KTV, shopping and pretty summer dresses.

 I am certainly glad to be home, but I left a lot of good friends in China and I miss them. I will be returning.

[Pineau]

Katie's first day of school. She did ok but I am going to have to help her with her homework instructions. like what is a noun, pronoun, adjective...etc.

Also bought her a new puppy as an incentive to do good in school. Trouble is the little guy has already realized that I am the big dog and has started bonding with me. He is sleeping at my feet right now and will not let me out of his sight.

[Pineau]

It's that time of year again and I am in a playful mood.

http://youtu.be/qFRT_mU_p34

[shaun]

I about peed in my pants.  Whoever the Dracula character is, he is really scary.  I'll have bad dreams all night long now.

[Arnold]

Boy.. the first woman coming into the picture sure looks like Qing. Very nice Gerry.. makes you the master of Video.

[Pineau]

Staring:
Dracula.............me!
The witch......... Fiona
Frankenstein......my son
The mummy .....Fiona's sister Ada
Wolf man..........Katie.

Not me. It is JibJab.
http://youtu.be/qFRT_mU_p34

[Pineau]

Today while I was checking my email, Fiona was on the phone with an old friend from Guangzhou. When she was finished she came over to my desk and was telling me about her old friend. She sounded very excited and happy to talk with her. They worked in the same office and their children were about the same age. She told me that they used to eat lunch together to save money.

She was telling me that Katie’s babysitter would bring her by the office sometimes and Katie would be such a mess. Dirty old clothes , dirty face and messy hair. Then her voice began to crack as she said her daughter looked like she lived on the sidewalk and that was the best babysitter she could afford as a single mother. Then large tears welled up in her eyes, her face turned red and she look at me and almost in a whisper she said thank you. Leaned over, hugged me, and cried.  I was really touched. That was a few hours ago and I have had time to think what it was all about. I know the story of her life. the good, the bad and the tragedies. Certainly I have had a big impact in her and her daughters life and she shows me that she appreciates it. This will probably continue to happen as she remembers her life in China.

But I think what would it be like for her if she never met me, and what if I had  married someone else. Where would she be now and where would I be? Who would have saved me when I was 9,000 miles from home and dying of internal bleeding?  It boggles the mind to think of all the different paths we could take and I hope it is more than just destiny that lead me down this road. I thought this to be the end of the road but now I realize there is no end to this road. The path goes on..splits and multiplies and continues forever long after I am gone. The people I have met the lives that I have touch and that have touched me. What's next? I have no idea but I am sure it wont be boring and it will be meaningful to someone.......

[Willy The Londoner]

Thanks for that Gerry.

I was beginning to think that I was the only one that was happy in myself because I had made a positive change in my wife's life and that she appreciated it.

The moment I met her I knew that I could do that, rather I knew that I wanted to do that and I have achieved it (so far that is).

That feeling is great and I am pleased you have shared your own feelings with us.

Willy

[JustJim]

I think it is a great feeling to know that you have had such a good impact in someone's life.

I think what is even more telling, and I know you realize it too. is how much impact she has had on your life, and the fact that she proved it to you by being by your side when you were in such a desperate place with your illness.

Who is to say but that destiny brought you two together for that moment?  All the rest is just your opportunity to pay if forward, as they say...

In my situation there is not much that I can do for Mei financially.  But she is a good woman, and Chinese attitudes about having girls- not boys - can be tough on someone who, for all I can see, deserved to be treated better.  I have no aspirations to make up for the past 20 years.  My desire is to just enjoy the next few decades with her, and to express my love for her and her daughter.

Your thread has been very inspirational because you write with a sincere heart.  Thanks.