On Chinese traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, friends invited me to have dinner. I brought three dishes. They prepared five. So we ended up having eight. The number eight is very lucky in Chinese culture, which usually means all good fortunes and blesses. CD player was playing a song sung by Faye Wang.
不知天上宮闕，今夕是何年。但願人長久，千裏共嬋娟。
I was very happy with the meal and being companied by them. But when I was back from their apartment, I felt a little blue. I could not see my baby boy through web cam while he was playing outside with his grandparents. None of emails or messages were coming to celebrate this holiday to me. OK, let me indulge in some good memories of previous Mid-Autumn Festivals.
Last Mid-Autumn Festival was the best to me since I was with my dearest baby boy, my husband and my parents. Despite that we could not find good moon cakes due to living in a small city, we really enjoyed being together and celebrating one of most important Chinese holidays in foreign country. Evan’s birth brought us much more happiness than anything else. Evan was a beautiful happy boy. I enjoyed doing everything for him, such as holding him, feeding him, changing diapers for him, teasing him, talking to him, playing with him, singing to him, soothing him to sleep, touching his soft and tender body. Having him asleep quietly in my arms is the most peaceful feelings in the world. Giving birth to a baby and nurturing him were the most amaing, meaningful and happiest tasks for a woman.
What did I do in Mid-Autumn Festival before last one? My friend voluntarily shared two very delicious moon cakes with me. His sister ordered the moon cake several months before the holiday. I did not remember the brand of the moon cake, but it was produced in Hong Kong. His sister mailed him a case containing four pieces. He shared two of them with me. I was really touched by his concern. That was my first time to eat moon cake outside of China and my first time to spend this holiday with my friend instead of being by myself. This might not be a big deal to him yet I was still touched even thinking of it.
Another thing I did was to call one of my friends in NYC, who was in his 40s when he came to this country. At the beginning of his arrival, he complained to me almost everyday over the phone. Everything seemed not right to him. He could hardly be confident. Apparently, it was very hard for a newcomer to adapt a brand new environment, especially to a middle aged man. So I was trying to be patient enough to listen to him and help him. He calmed down and adjusted himself little by little. Since I had not received his phone call for a long time before Mid-Autumn Festival, I called him to check out if he was doing well. Fortunately, he was. His wife and son were here to be with him, which increased his internal motivation to be successful. He had made much progress so far.
Now it is Mid-Autumn Festival again. I wish my family in China and my friends here or there a happy and wonderful holiday. I really miss you all. We could not be together, could not talk face to face, could not make jokes and laugh together. But we are enjoying the same full moon and beautiful moonlight. Are you, my family and friends, missing and blessing me too?
