class

[asterroc]

I posted this as a comment to amavia's post on class structure in the US, and thought it deserved space of its own.

Sometimes I am amazed by people's stories of different classes. My Nga Boo (maternal grandmother) was from a rich family in Shanghai. They had servants, wet-nurses (Ama), and "companions" (as my family calls them) - I think a companion is the child of the wet nurse who was born at roughly the same time as the family member.

She was a rebel though, she broke off an arranged marriage to marry a Cantonese peasant, who later was part of the Nationalist Army. He (my Nga Cone) borrowed an army buddy's passport which had permissions to come to the US, and somehow arranged for asslyum for my Nga Boo and infant mother. They took a boat here, my Nga Boo strapping my three-year-old mother to her back so that she wouldn't get washed overboard on the stormy journey. Once here, Nga Cone opened a resturaunt, Nga Boo waited tables, and Mom bussed the tables after school.

And at family reunions not only do I bow to my Boo-boo's (grand aunts), but also to one woman who was the companion of a Boo-boo. She never married: even here in America her main goal in life was to serve as my Boo-boo's companion. She could have left at any point in time, but she never did.

Comments

[blue102.livejournal.com]

This is a great story. Your Nga Boo is a really special person!