A Chinese-American Story of Love (Part VIII- section 2)

By Douglas Wagganer

There were so many people at the airport, it would take me forever to list or thank each person in this article. However, I would like to mention one pair of friends who were there that afternoon. These two individuals have only known me for a very short time, but have become so very special to our family that I feel I just have to mention them in this article. The two people I am referring to are the Editors and Owners of this Paper, the St. Louis Chinese-American News. Mr. Francis Yueh and his beautiful wife Mrs. May Yueh, have become so much more than just our friends. Their insights and advice have been welcome wisdom to my soul. I had prayed and hoped to find positive role models from the Chinese Community, what I found was much, much more. Maribeth truly adores her Uncle Francis and Aunt May. I now believe she will have the watchful eyes of two remarkable individuals to help guide her as she grows and develops.

We did finally make it back home to our house later that afternoon. My family had decorated the inside of our home as a greeting. A banner of welcome by my nephews and nieces brought a big smile to my face as I walked into the house. All evening family and friends came to our home and visited this us. Maribeth went to openly to all and loved playing with all her new friends and relatives. It was much later that night, after Maribeth was deep asleep in her own bed, and everyone was finally gone for the night that I quietly entered my daughter's dark room, and then stood next to her bed watching my precious angel. Wonderment and Peace filled my thoughts. I watched Maribeth sleep for several minutes, before kissing her on the forehead, and making sure she was covered with her blanket. With another Chapter of my Chinese-American Love Story was now complete, I went to bed that night as one happy person.                                 

This concludes Part VIII. The traveling portion of our adventure was now over, but our journey has just begun. In future articles I plan to relate how Maribeth has done since her arrival here in St. Louis. Raising a child in two cultures will certainly be a challenge, so I plan to write many future articles about our family and maybe seek advice from you the reader on how to bring our two cultures together as one. Thank you for reading and I hopefully we can meet sometime soon. Until next time take care.               

Douglas Wagganer
St. Charles, Missouri