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Name : |
Chen, Ming-Shuen |
Origin of ancestors : |
JiangSuc,China |
Age : |
81 |
Occupation : |
none |
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¡§My wife always wants me to live in my hometown, as family and relatives are all there, but I've lived here for almost sixty years. I am used to here and don't plan to go back. Other people return to their origin, while I take roots on this land.¡¨ |
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Grandpa Chen's place is located in a new government-built apartment community. Two years ago, his old house where he'd lived for thirty years was torn down due to government policy. The government offered him the priority to purchase the government-built apartment. He is a veteran, and grandma Chen has to do some recycling works to support their lives. The financial situation is not so good. They spent all the money plus mortgage to move in the apartment. |
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Entering the house, we could small some kind of mold scent, and saw a simple table, couple of chairs, some shelves, a small TV, two fridges (yet, they were broken for storage only), a floor bedding, and some stuff scattered around. The whole room looked quite empty. |
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Grandpa Chen was born in Tongshan JiangSu on October 18, 1925 . He is currently 81 years old. Grandma was born in the same year in the same village, and was appointed to be his wife before birth. (Before giving birth, both parents make arrangement to have their babies marry each other if one is a boy and one is a girl.) |
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¡§Can you tell us your story of joining the army?¡¨Andy asked first. |
¡§I joined the army at eighteen, because the government conscribed in my hometown, and regulated that one man had to be conscribed if there's two or more men in one household. I joined the army as such. My son was only eight months old then. I thought I would be home soon, and when I saw my son again, he was a middle aged man of 46 years old.¡¨ Speaking of this, grandpa Chen felt so sad.
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¡§You never contacted with each other during those years?¡¨ Jim asked.
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¡§I followed the troop to fight against Japanese and then against communism, moving around without fixed living places. I was illiterate, so could not write letters. You could not contact China after retreating in Taiwan , which was considered a ¡§spy¡¨. Grandpa Chen then said, ¡§I left the army after 32 years of military service and entered the Central Film Production |
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| Ltd. for another ten more years. As a friend of mine went to Hong Kong , I asked him to search for my family. After a long while, I heard they were in the northeast. What a great news!¡¨ |
| ¡§When did you see each other?¡¨ Nancy asked.
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¡§I was in the first group of people allowed to visit China after government deregulation in 1987. After 45 years, I saw my wife and son again, knowing that they also went through a lot, made me happy yet sad. I brought my wife over in 1991.¡¨ |
Grandpa Chen's son was allowed to visit Taiwan couple of weeks ago through application. He was sitting into tears beside his father while listening to the story. |
¡§During these 45 years, did you ever want to married the other woman?¡¨ Andy asked unbelievably. |
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¡§No! When I just arrived Taiwan , and the government still wanted to fight back; soldiers were not allowed to get married. Later, marriage was allowed through application, I thought of my wife and son in China , and what I wanted to do was to know their whereabouts.¡¨ Grandpa Chen replied affirmatively. |
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¡§Have you thought of going back and spending the rest of your life there?¡¨ Jessie asked the last question. |
¡§My wife always wants me to live in my hometown, as family and relatives are all there, but I've lived here for almost sixty years. I am used to here and don't plan to go back. Other people return to their origin, while I take roots on this land.¡¨ |
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This is My Land. It's just our topic. We think that grandpa has already made the best remarks for us! |
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