My grandmother was born Year of the Dog–eight cycles ago. She will be 96 this year. I am reminded of a proverb a friend once said to my grandmother and then translated for me: one wave pushes the next wave forward. It’s the idea that each generation propels the next generation.
The force of my grandmother’s wave continues to push me forward. She survived occupation in WWII, immigrated to a new country, married a man she barely knew, finished high school at night, and ran the family business (a small grocery store) after my grandfather’s stroke.
My grandparents also found one of the few developers willing to sell land to non-white people and built a house, so the family could move out of the back of the grocery store. (When I was young, my dad went to our local grocery store almost everyday. I think it’s because it felt like home. After all, a grocery store was his first home.)
Though my relationship with my grandmother is complicated, I have deep respect for her. She is the wave that propelled my father, and my father propelled me.
So to her and to my dad–and every one else–I say Happy Year of the Dog!
Tengy Thoughts 