每日社評0617 我的父親

                                                                                                                                             图片来源： 路透社

我的父親

今天是父親節,也是一個星期天,我來到辦公室查看環球第一銀行工地上的大吊車,心中湧起無限的感動,這一切應該從父親說起。

父親一生的跌宕起伏，讓我對人生有了更深刻的感悟。他經歷了戰爭之苦難,流離失所的辛酸，但他仍然沒有放棄對孩子之教育，讓我們家人有機會來到美國。

雖然父親已經去世多年,他在為我獲得[海外優秀青年獎]時親筆為我題詞的贈語一直懸掛在辦公室牆上，他的秀麗挺拔之毛筆手書是我每天必看到的一幕。

當年抗戰時期,家鄉雲南龍陵被日本軍佔領之後,父親帶着新婚不久之新娘逃到大理城外,大姐就在抗戰勝利時出生了,當他們帶著喜悅之心情回到家鄉時父親在二十多歲當上了鎮長。但是好景不長，國共內戰又起。他又隻身遠走他鄉，𠄘受著妻離子散之苦,兩年後母親帶著幼子女三人在馬背上翻山越嶺到達窮鄉貧困之緬北村莊，開始了困苦之異鄉生活。他的人生可說落到谷底,但是父親那手氣勢磅薄，筆勢雄健之書法，還是在親友們之婚喪喜慶之大場面中得予發揮,即便是在潦困之家境中,父親還是沒有讓我輟學。多年後他在中年時回到臺灣，他雖嚐試回到公職,但已時過境遷,他因有志難伸,心境憂鬱而英年早逝,臨終時對我說：“蔚華要爭氣噢!”

多少年來,我牢記着父親之訓示,不論從工讀生一直到了美國唸書，創業幾乎每天都在思考自已的未來. 如何做一個對社會有用的人。上月回到了父母曾住過的中壢眷村，我向鄉親們表達了深切之感激,這𠆤小鎮事實上改寫了我們家族之歷史。

生我育我愛我們之父母,是多麼偉大之恩澤,俗稱天下無不是之父母,我們向所有天下的父親表示最衷心之祝福。

我們家人都來到美國,最遺憾的是父親從未踏上這塊土地,但是他的音容笑貌和挺拔高大之身影永遠留在我們的心中。

My Father

It’s Father’s Day again, and although my father has been gone for many years, his inscription for my Overseas Outstanding Youth Award still hangs on my office wall. His elegant and bold calligraphy is something I see every day.

Today, being a Sunday, I came to the office to check on the large crane at the Global One Bank construction site. A wave of emotion washed over me. It all came back to my father.

During the war of Resistance Against Japan, my hometown of Longling, Yunan, was occupied by the Japanese army. My father with his young wife, fled to the outskirts of Dali City, where my elder sister Lily was born at the end of the war. Returning with the joy, my dad he became the town's mayor in his early twenties. However, good times were short-lived as the civil war broke out, forcing him to flee alone. He endured the hardship of separation from his wife and kids. Two years later, my mother, carrying the three of us on  horseback, crossed the mountains and ridge, arriving at the remote village in northern Myanmar where our family began a life of hardship and displacement in a foreign land.

Father’s life had hit rock bottom, yet his calligraphy, characterized by its bold and vigorous strokes, still found its place in the grand celebration of friends and relatives.

Despite our family‘s financial struggles, my father never allowed me to drop out of school. Years later he returned  to Taiwan in his middle age, though he attempted to re-enter the workforce, the times had changed. Feeling his talents were washed and his future bleak, he passed away just as he reached sixty years old. His final words to me were, ”Wea Hwa, you must strive for success."

For many years, I have kept my father’s words close to my heart. From the days as an intern at the radio station, to my studies in school and entrepreneurship, I have constantly pondered my future and how to become someone who contributes to society.

Last month my wife and I returned to Taiwan and visited the village of Chung Cheng where my parents once lived and expressed our deepest gratitude  to the villagers. This small town, in essence, rewrote our family’s history.