LAMAR University in Beaumont, Texas was the first American university that I got into. I did not have much difficulty adjusting in school because my professors at the Government Department were very nice people. They tried their best to help foreign students like me to American politics and the American way of life.

      I remember Dr. Stevenson, the department chairman. He was probably the most helpful.Of German descent, he came to America when he was a teenager. He knew what a foreign student needed to get assimilated into the American way of life.

      He arranged for host families to “adopt” us so that we could integrate into the mainstream American society and get first-hand experience of living the American way of life in Beaumont, a traditional southeast Texas town.

      My first son, Howard, was born in mid-1975. As students, we did not have money, so Catherine had to give birth at a health clinic that provided free service. So Howard was born at the UT-Galveston Hospital. (Many years later, my daughter Margaret would become a medical doctor at the same hospital.)

      With Howard around, it became difficult for us to study. He needed full attention, which we couldn’t give because Catherine and I both go to school. So after three months, we decided to send Howard to Taiwan, where my parents could take care of him. It was a difficult and painful decision to part with our first child, but it was the most practical thing we could do at that time.

      In the late summer of 1975, we arranged with friends who were vacationing to Taiwan to take Howard with them. When we sent him off at the airport, my wife was in tears. It pained her to let go a three-month-old son. But we had to accept the decision, because we really did not have time to take care of our son.

      Howard stayed with my parents in Taiwan for two years. He got all the attention he needed not only from my parents but also from many relatives, neighbors and friends. It was not after three years later that Howard would return to Texas with my mother.

      After Catherine and I got our masters degree from Lamar University, we were faced with another dilemma. Are we going to stay in America or are we going back to Taiwan? I could always go back to the radio station or join the government service of Taiwan.

      The crucial deciding factor was the “green card.” I told my wife that if we cannot become permanent residents of the U.S. we’d rather go back to Taiwan.

      But Catherine was reluctant to go back. She told me to consider other options because we only had ten months left of our student’s visa. The alternative was to continue studying. I applied in the university for my doctorate. This was the only way I could stay legally in America.

      One day I thought of Houston, the U.S.’ fourth largest city. There must be some opportunity waiting for us there, I told myself.

      So we drove to Houston to meet the Lee families. There were many of them in the city, just as there are Lees in other big cities such as San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. This was the first time I was meeting the Lees in Houston.

      The Lee families in Houston were having a meeting in the eastern part of town the night I met them. They always met at nighttime because most of them attend to their businesses during the day.

      We met a lot of uncles, all surnamed Lee, such as Henry Lee, Gene Lee, Tommy Lee, Jim Lee. Everybody was nice to us. My “uncles” told us they’d see what they could do to help us get our green card. They referred us to a famous immigration lawyer, William Sims.

      One day we visited Attorney Sims at his office to inquire about becoming a permanent resident of America.

      With a big smile, Mr. Sims asked: “Mr. Lee, what was your profession before you came to America?”

      I tried to think, and told him that both of us worked at a news radio station before.

      “Mr. Lee, maybe you could start a community newspaper in Houston. That could qualify you for a green card,” he said.

      It was an idea that gave me so much hope. I realized that putting up a community newspaper could give me the opportunity to stay in this country.

      I went back to Beaumont after my consultation with Mr. Sims. I told my wife that we could try organizing a Chinese newspaper. It was something that we had never done before, but it was something that could give us our green card.

      I made up my mind. I had to get started with a community newspaper in Chinese.

(To be continued)