One Day When We Were Young
After the church service one Sunday, I noticed an elegant elderly lady sitting alone, so I approached her to introduce myself. To my delight, she was eager to chat. When she told me she was 95, I could hardly believe it—she was so alert, physically active, and radiated contentment. Over time, I learned she was originally from Cleveland, Ohio. Interestingly, my husband’s first job was also in that very city, and we had even shared the same Chinese Bible study group during that time. As we talked, memories from 50 years ago started to resurface, taking me back to the early days of our life together.
My husband and I were married in Columbus, Ohio, both as international students. It was his final year working on his doctoral dissertation. During that Christmas holiday season, we borrowed a typewriter to type his resume and cover letters for his job search. With my stumbles and typing errors, we sent out more than 500 letters, likely containing 1,000 mistakes, as there was no delete key. Despite the challenges, it eventually led to a job opportunity for him in Cleveland, Ohio. We were young and full of energy, believing that our determination and perseverance would help us achieve the dream we both shared.
My husband’s first job was a pivotal milestone for our marriage—a moment when we truly became partners, working together toward our future.
Cleveland’s winter was bitterly cold that year—colder than you can imagine. We rented an apartment with outdoor parking. As two newcomers, we were clueless about many things. The first obstacle we encountered was our VW Beetle, which never started in the morning. On an acquaintance’s advice, we were told, “You need to buy another battery, keep it in the house, then jump the battery to your car in the morning.” So, we decided to shop for a battery at the local auto store.
We took the bus that night; the streets were completely empty. The bus dropped us off at the store, but unfortunately, it was closed. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere in below-zero weather, and the bus had already driven away. At that time, there were no cell phones, not even a public phone around. Surprisingly, we weren’t scared—now I realize it was because we had each other. But after a while, our lips turned blue, and our toes were frozen. That’s when we realized how serious it was. So, my sweet husband suggested that we needed to run to keep our blood circulating. In the blinking dark parking lot, with no cars and no one around, just two young people running—I’m not sure if you can call that the most romantic date, but it sure felt like an adventure. Luckily, after half an hour, the bus driver returned and took us back to our apartment.
Because of this incident, we began to explore opportunities to meet new friends. We discovered that a group of Chinese faculty members at a nearby university had established a Bible study fellowship, so we decided to join them. During the two years we stayed in Cleveland, I gave birth to our first daughter. The fellowship members offered all the support and advice we could have hoped for. One of the members, a child psychologist, gave me a book she had written titled Understand Me, to help me become a better mother.
In our 50 years of marriage, we’ve experienced ups and downs, but many untold stories like these have kept us going. We always knew that as long as we had each other, we would eventually make it through.
It’s a small world after all. The lady I met at church was one of the founders of that fellowship. It feels like a miracle that we reconnected across the country after 50 years. It certainly brought back so many wonderful memories. Reflecting on those years, I’ve come to realize that the people we meet and the experiences we share are truly blessings from above.