Tifa

     This is famliy story……   

           Many years ago, China was feudal. Many people thought that if you want to get married, you must be matched for marriage; so this is how the story begins.
          My grandmother was taller than her father. She liked reading books.  She had long hair. At one time, somebody invited her to model for photographs but her father refused because he thought girls must stay home to do housework, such as sewing, cooking, bringing up children. She was very poor; she could not go out and talk with her friends. She only put a smile on her face for her father. Then she became quiet.
           When my grandmother was my age, she got married, but she did not know what love was. She could not feel love. She just knew she took care of her husband. That was women’s responsibility.
           Her husband was older than her. Not fat, not tall. He was the landlord’s son. They did not talk so much. He always was very busy. He went out often and left her lonely in the house. Nobody took care of her. My grandmother and her husband came from very different backgrounds. They could not understand each other’s way of thinking.
           After a while, when my grandmother was 19 years old, her husband said “you can go out, I don’t want to hear somebody say your wife is boring.’’ She was very sad and confused after she heard that. Then she went out and hid in the bookshop to cry. At that moment somebody passed a handkerchief to her. He was an army man. He had many ideas for changing his life. Then they helped each other; understood each other. Week after week, they involuntarily fell in love. May be they have met in a pre-existing life.
 They felt comfortable.
          In order to get freedom, she decided to run away with the army man. She told her mother, but her mother was very angry. Her mother told her father, and then they kept her in the room. She was crying and shouting. Nobody paid attention to her. She did not eat anything and became thinner and thinner. She always slept, because she wanted to dream about her sweet heart. She prayed somebody would help her. The wish came true. Her mother could not bear it. She helped her daughter to run away. She told her daughter if you want to be with your lover you must prove your loving. She hoped that her daughter would find happiness and find real love. That is something no one should destroy.
          They moved to the south of China because they wanted to make a complete change. They created a happy home with three children. My mother was their second daughter. Then there was me to enjoy their sweet and happy story!