Crossing the Waters, Building Bridges In the midst of great upheaval—war, revolution, and the shadows of communism—my family made the courageous choice to leave the turbulence of their homeland and seek a new beginning in America. They came across the waters with books wrapped in cloth and dreams wrapped in silence. My mother’s silk qipaos and father’s hand tailored jackets carried the weight and silence of what they left behind and the hope and dreams for a future ahead. My extended family were scholars, artists, poets and mathematicians. Steeped in Chinese traditions, Confucian classics, French novels, and precise British grammar. But everything changed when war turned everything upside down. Then came the revolution, and the tightening grip of Mao. One by one, they made the hardest choice to leave the land of their ancestors behind. They arrived in America and worked at the newly formed United Nations. Educated and skilled, they brought language, knowledge and an unyielding spirit. At the UN, they became translators; bridging cultures, voices, and hopes in a world desperate for peace. Here is a photograph of them at the Montauk lighthouse in 1951, smiling into the wind. They look like any group of holiday-goers—young, hopeful, free. But it was the height of the McCarthy era. Fear pulsed just beneath the surface. To speak Chinese in public, to have foreign contacts, to work for the United Nations—it all required an unshakable poise. Courage wrapped in impeccable English. They never shouted about their bravery. They simply lived it. They voted, translated, believed. They were the bridge between two worlds—one ancient, one raw and new. Their courage wasn’t loud. It was elegant. Determined. Quiet as breath before speech. And in that brave crossing, they gave me the language of resilience and grace. As I watch recent events unfold with military takeovers and threats to freedom in distant lands, my heart breaks. It’s up to us now—to remember, to speak, to protect the freedoms they once risked everything to find. 💔 #immigrant #freedom