Then and Now

 Occasionally, I sit and think of where I am versus where I have been.

I am a mother of two, wife of a US Navy Commander, university teacher and citizen of the United States. All four of these thing were by my choice. I could not be more satisfied with these things. They are a far cry from what I was and would likely have been had I made different choices.

I was a simple Chinese girl that did not expect much from life. I could expect to be a wife and mother. That was what my culture taught me. It is not that there is anything wrong being a wife and mother. I love that it is what I am. But in China, that is what you existed to be. In the west, I am more.

I am able to achieve goals for myself that would have been near impossible in China. I would not be a professor of computer science in a Chinese university. At best I could be an assistant. I would not be a Navy Commander's wife in China. My family was comfortable by Chinese standards but they could not afford to marry me to a naval officer. I am a mother to two children. Until recently, I would have been restricted to only one.

I continue to giggle each time I hear that China's "One Child" policy has been relaxed. This policy accounted for untold numbers of girl infants left to die because they were not sons. Now, there is a shortage of Chinese women for Chinese men to marry.

I have come far. I would change nothing of this long walk. I have had difficult times as everyone does. Still, the path was worth it. The good far exceeds the bad.