A timely reminder from heroes

    I've been away book-touring, so I haven't posted here for a long time.  I'll be leaving again tomorrow as well, but it's been wonderful to be home this week of the election, and to reconnect with my ESL students.  They are mostly Chinese, with one Thai woman and a Columbian for an interesting variety of perspective.

   The Chinese students work about sixty hours a week among local Chinese restaurants, so they're always tired, always dragging a bit to class, yawning, and resigned to nothing more than their present routine throughout their lives.  They're working for their children,  and have no expectations for themselves.

    But yesterday, the morning after the election, the students walked quickly into class, their heads up, making eye-contact.  It made me smile, and I asked M., one of the three with citizenship so that he could vote, if he was happy.  "Yes," he said.  "Yesterday I make my dream come true."  

    Another, L., had stayed up late to see Obama's acceptance speech.  Despite the fact that she'd had only a few hours' sleep and was facing into another 12-hour work day, she looked fresher, more alert than I'd ever seen her.  She said her son, in his last year at N.Y.U. and eyeing a particularly tough job-market, had called in tears after the speech.  "Now we have hope," she said.  

    I know that M. and L. were thinking of their children when they said these things, but I find great comfort in Obama's shining the light for a few moments of these last few days on people like my students themselves.  He eulogized his grandmother, who died election eve, as an unsung hero.  

    As someone new to the definition of hero, having had to research and write my way to an understanding of my father's sacrifice in WWII in my late-fifties, I finally can appreciate people who uncomplainingly sacrifice sleep, comfort, status, dignity, vacations, health, any hope of retirement, and even their lives - for future generations.  In Dreams of My Father, Obama's grandmother has to forfeit her dreams for retirement after her husband's sales career stalls, and re-enter the work-force in middle-age, slowly working her way up at a local bank.  Obama makes her sacrifice come alive in showing her pretzling herself every morning into a suit and heels, coming home at night with aching feet to cook dinner.  

    Before I got home from my recent book-trip, I was bemoaning the fact that the economic debacle will make it impossible for my husband to retire next year as we'd planned.  It only took a day back with my students to realize how lucky I am that we can think of retirement at all, any time.    

                    

Comments

[Tabor]

I have been drafting in my mind a post about "standing on the shoulders of our ancestors." This is what keeps us going on and I just realized how significant this thought is for immigrants to this country. I hope that these high expectations...not all of which can be met...will discourage too many citizens and future citizens.

[joared]

We are all fortunate that we have skills and careers that allow us to alter plans and keep working in these difficult times. If nothing more changes I would be fine, but who knows what lies ahead. I've kept working part time partially because the financial climate long seemed questionable to me in addition to the fact I enjoy what I do. Now the future seems uncertain so I think I should continue working until the world seems a bit more stable. My work has actually been an important cornerstone of stability when my husband died unexpectedly and continues to be.

Yes, many people have derived hope this Nov.
Following the election I exchanged emails of celebration with a much younger local woman of color who, though she has lived a rather privileged somewhat integrated life, shed tears of joy for the recent event she never thought would happen in her lifetime.

Hope your book tours are going well. Also, have wondered how you've progressed with your self-study learning the Chinese language?

[Terri]

What a wonderful post. Those students of yours really puts things in perspective, don't they? I felt so good reading this and could almost feel their hope. Because of the election, I have the same hope for our country.
I've been wondering where you've been. I'm so happy for you that your book tours and signings are going so well! Way to go! Continued success to you.