Letter of Christmas 2003
also see Chinese version (not word-for-word translaton)

As you can see from the photos all over the pages, the greatest news we have for year 2003 is that Li-qing and I have become proud grandparents of Kevin Zhuang. Kevin, born to Hong and Sandy ten days sooner than anticipated, is now a healthy and (mostly) happy baby. If I take him to the garden, he would help hold the garden hose, look in the direction where water goes, stare at the rainbow that water and sunlight create, and listen to the sounds when water falls on the leaves. If I have him inside the house, he would want to go down to the floor and would crawl to all places as fast as he can. As soon as he sees an electrical outlet, he would trust his tiny finger into it. To a baby, the world must be a wonderful place to be, full of sound, light, motion, and temptation.

Both Hong and Sandy, Wei and Maki have bought their own homes but are within 15-20 minutes drive to us. We'sve got to see them less often, but have more time, and room, to ourselves. I now have my own office, and can be early or late working on my computer and webpages. My webpages are reflections of our life, in particular those years in China, where Li-qing and I still have too many relations and memories not to remember daily. Li-qing is planning on a China visit, probably next April during the Qingming festival when people would go to the graves of their deceased and pay respect. The last time Li-qing went back to China was 1999. Since then, five of our relatives have passed away: her mother, her second sister-in-law, her second sister, her eldest brother, and my aunt.

Next year will be the year of the Monkey, with Chinese New Year falling on January 22nd 2004. I had thought about taking leave and visit China during the Chinese New Year, but have decided to wait, probably until my retirement. When I came here fifteen years ago, I left behind a career of 25 years, and started everything anew. Never have I regretted the move, but I have to work a little longer to make up for retirement. So the coming Year 2004 will see our life energized by the presence of our little grandson. The world must be a blissful place to be, with all the new babies, new hopes and new meanings.

Yannan 12-3-2003