The Hard and Tough Journey
Jason Wang
The year was 1940. My grandma, Sulan Wang, was born in Shenyang, China. Her parents and her five siblings all relied on her father's work salary to live. In order to keep the family going, her father went to Tianjin to work.
During the winter of 1948, a family friend came over to Sulan's house to tell her family that her father was sick and is now lying on a bed and he can't get up. Her family, who was already living in a worse condition, the condition was now even more worse. Her mother, was a very brave and enduring person, wanted to take her five children travel to Tianjin and look after husband. That year, my grandmother was only eight years old.
From Shenyang to Tianjin, the distance was 750km. Back then, because of the political conflict between China's Communist Party and Taiwan's Nationalist Party, there was always fights happening. Roads between cities were destroyed, so it was very hard to travel from one city to another. Sulan's family also didn't have any money to buy train tickets. Sulan's mother carrying her younger brother on her back and her older sister carrying their basic luggage started to begin the journey. They walked on their two feet. They had to go to Shanhaiguan and then go to Tianjin.
In icy cold conditions, with big snowstorms everywhere and gusty winds, they walked through 30cm deep of snow, trying desperately to walk through. If someone fell, they would get up and continue to keep walking. In order to keep the family together and survive, they'd walk all day when it was daylight. In the evening, they'd ask people if they could stay in their homes for overnight. If there weren't any homes to stay in, they'd just stay in a area where it block the strong winds and huddle together to keep warm.
My grandma was little and short, for she was only eight years old. In the deep snow, she walked and walked and she couldn't keep up with the family very well. Shortly she was a long distance from her family and herself. She couldn't see her mother and her siblings. She was lost in the big snowstorm. She was scared. She cried and gave up her hope. Just at this time, a old man leading a horse carriage saw her.
He asked Sulan, "Why are you crying, little girl?"
Sulan crying, replied, "My mom and siblings have gone very far. I can't catch up to them now."
The good hearted old man picked up Sulan and put her on the carriage. They finally caught up to Sulan's family.
On the whole journey, they asked for people to share their food with them. In the daylight, they walked and stayed in other peoples homes overnight. They went through a lot of tough times. One woman bringing her five children, in the cold and crispy cold condition, walked for forty-five days, 750 kilometres. This hard and tough journey, my grandma, sixty years later, my grandma remembers the journey very clearly.