Trees And Leafs

My coach’s eyes were wet, and he said, “Chinese people’s lives are really hard,” as he looked out side through the train’s window. That was in1962 in China and on the train from Chungchin City to Hurfei in Anhui Province.

I was thirteen years old and this was my first trip with my Wushu team. We were going to visit Wushu teams in Anhhui and Shan Dong to practice martial arts. Our team got together with them once a year.

The train passed through many cities and villages. We saw a lot trees with no bark. We were surprised and asked our coach, “Why”? Because we were very young, we didn’t know what was happenning in China.

After United States war with North Korea and China ended, Russia demanded that China repay for the weapons they had used in the war. At the same time, from 1960 to 1963, there were three of natural disasters in China. Many people did not have enough food to eat. They ate anything could eat, including the bark of trees.

Last year, my mother passed away. I went to China. One day, my brother, he is 3 years younger than me, and I were talking about my mom and about our family life during the 1960’s.

He asked me, “Sister, do you remember, when you were a young girl and you came back home from your trip on Chinese New Year? Did you see a lot leaves in our kitchen?”

I said, “Yes. I still remember, I thought that we used them in our stove for fire to cook with.”

He said, “No! That was our food.” Later, he told me that he and my second brother used a circle of rocks to grind the leaves into powder. Then, my mother mixed them with flour. She cooked them together. He told me that every family did the same, but only you didn’t know, because my mother had told us, “Don’t tell to your sister.”

I could not control my eyes, I felt my eyes. Something deep and very hot and came out. It was from my heart.