I Thought About My Father

As I pondered the many possibilities of my first blogpost, I thought about my father, who passed away on February 19, 1994 because of cancer. He was 70.

My father had taught me many and influenced me much. As a former high-school principal in a small town in central China, he is still remembered by many people as a decent, upright man.

Was he a successful man? Well, successfulness is a hot topic nowadays. What I heard about my father was that he had passed up many promotion opportunities in the school system in his dozens of years as principal. I never got the chance to ask him why. But I knew he was not the type who seeks power or wealth at any cost. Fundamentally, I guess he was content with his life and enjoyed his work enormously, even though it was a demanding one. In the end, what mattered to him was that he had the respect of his family, his colleague and his students.

I feel very fortunate to have been under his upbringing and influence. I would not be the person I am today without him.

I remember one of the last pieces of advice my father gave me was to stay away from politics. At this moment in time though, it looks like I won't be able to do that.

Sorry, dad. You know I would never disappoint you. But I do need to take back control of my life first so that I can live the way you always wanted me to live.