I got an email just now from my relatives (dad's side of the family...) It was an invitation for me to join them on a family trip to Hainan Island... China.
For personal and political reasons, I've long resisted any reason to visit China. But this trip is different, and something my dad's side of the family has been talking about for over a decade. I did express my interest to go many times to pay respects to my late granpa, who passed away when I was only two. I don't remember much, but I recently saw the little red bike that he gave first to my brother and then to me. The bike has since been restored and repainted, and is now being used by my second cousin...
My grandpa served as a soldier of the Japanese Empire during the Second World War and was for many years stationed on Hainan Island. He was cannon fodder, literally the the foot soldiers who were sent toward enemy lines, the enemy then being the Chinese... He came back shellshocked, lost his mind, and was very abusive, my aunt told me, and it took a long while till he became "normal" again. My dad was born a year or so after my grandpa returned from the war.
In November, my grandpa was unearthed from his tomb after 25 years, and was finally cremated and put to rest next to my grandma. It marked a milestone in my family, and I imagine it was the trigger to organise this family trip to visit a place where grandpa once fought and lived...
But I can't go. I had to decline, as much as it tempted me... I just cannot think of a trip anymore, even if it's such an important one.
For personal and political reasons, I've long resisted any reason to visit China. But this trip is different, and something my dad's side of the family has been talking about for over a decade. I did express my interest to go many times to pay respects to my late granpa, who passed away when I was only two. I don't remember much, but I recently saw the little red bike that he gave first to my brother and then to me. The bike has since been restored and repainted, and is now being used by my second cousin...
My grandpa served as a soldier of the Japanese Empire during the Second World War and was for many years stationed on Hainan Island. He was cannon fodder, literally the the foot soldiers who were sent toward enemy lines, the enemy then being the Chinese... He came back shellshocked, lost his mind, and was very abusive, my aunt told me, and it took a long while till he became "normal" again. My dad was born a year or so after my grandpa returned from the war.
In November, my grandpa was unearthed from his tomb after 25 years, and was finally cremated and put to rest next to my grandma. It marked a milestone in my family, and I imagine it was the trigger to organise this family trip to visit a place where grandpa once fought and lived...
But I can't go. I had to decline, as much as it tempted me... I just cannot think of a trip anymore, even if it's such an important one.
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