A true story about escaping from Red China.
One time in the mid-1970s, we were working with some Canadians and a few were down here for a while.
I was still at the “office sharing” stage of my career and my new office mate was a young woman from Canada. Her name was Laura and she was born in China but was now a Canadian citizen. She and I got along well. I was in my mid-30s and Laura was a few years younger than I.
For whatever reason, we were working second shift so there were fewer people around. Sometimes, we would take a break and just talk about things other than work. Our backgrounds were so different that we had much to learn from each other.
One evening, Laura decided to tell me how she became a Canadian citizen. It was a story I have never forgotten. It was a very heartwarming story and, at the same time, a very sad story.
Laura’s father had been the owner of a company which manufactured chemicals. When the communists took over, Laura’s father’s company was suddenly a communist party company.
Then Laura told me something that you think only happens in movies. Her father was to be executed for being a capitalist but then they decided not to kill him. The communists needed the chemicals but had nobody who could run the company; they had to allow her father to live.
When Laura was fourteen, her father gave her a chemical which made her very ill but would not kill her. There seemed to be nothing local doctors could do. Laura’s father received permission to send his young daughter to Hong Kong for medical treatment.
Before she left home, Laura’s father gave her all the money he had and said to his daughter, “Go and never come back.”
Think about that. Think real hard. A father who loves his daughter and tells her to never return because he wanted her to live in freedom.
Laura applied for both United States and Canadian citizenship. Laura told me she had wanted to come to the United States but when the Canadians said, “Yes,” she took it because she wanted to get far away from China the first chance she had. She was afraid China would find a way to take her back.
I have no idea what happened to Laura’s father.
Laura became a Canadian citizen and graduated from college.
A Side Note
Laura is happily married and living a good and free life in Canada. Truth is, I guess that because that was the way I last saw her quite a few years ago.
Laura’s husband, Ken, also came down for a short period and they were both here for Thanksgiving.
My wife, Carolyn, and I invited them to have Thanksgiving dinner with us.
The dinner was what you see on many Southern Thanksgiving dinner tables, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, cranberry sauce, green beans cooked down in bacon grease, and probably more.
In brief, they loved it.
When it was time for dessert, Ken looked at the pumpkin pie which Carolyn had baked and he hesitated.
Carolyn cut a sliver for him and said, “Come on, try it. Just a bite.”
I shall never forget Ken’s reaction. He took a bite, looked up, smiled, and said, “Fantastic.”
