社评 0319 完美的人生

完美的人生

纪念李政夫人海蒂女士

七十年代初我和妻完成了在州立拉马大学的硕士学位课程之后， 在一个风雨交加之夜晚驾着一辆破旧之雪佛兰来到德州休斯敦，在城西的一个出租公寓栖身。 我们当时面临重大之人生抉择， 如果要在此留下必须要有机会申请绿卡， 否则就会成了非法居民。

当我第一次踏上美国旧金山时， 在中国城都板街上有座高楼李氏公所， 当时我因好奇走进这座大楼，因而结识了许多李氏宗亲。 在他们的策划和支持下，我為李氏出版编辑了第一份《李氏月报》， 并得到族人们之高度重视和讃扬， 但是这非我到美国之初衷，因而决心远走德克萨斯州，寻求真正的美国和美国文化。

如今我和妻完成学业之后来到休斯敦， 為了绿卡可能又要重操旧业， 再办一次中文报 ，因此在宗濂叔之介绍下，我们有天走进了李政叔之李氏印刷公司 ，当时在他的办公室角落座着一位端庄美丽衣着讲究之西方妇人， 经介绍后才知道是李政夫人，他在德国当美国大兵时结识的美女，而且是用字典交流而得到美人心，这是多広令人感动而美丽的爱情故事。

在李政叔之倡议下， 我们和沈彦伟律师、 吴华昌先生、 亨利李等合资创办了首份中文西南时报， 我重新执笔， 怌孕中的妻子练习打中文字， 在简易之条件环境中竟然把西南时报出刊了， 当然我们也顺利地拿到绿卡 ，我们十分感激李政叔给予之帮助。 据称当初之报纸原版捐给了莱斯大学珍藏， 也是我们华人在美之珍贵歷史记载。

今天我们参加了李政叔之夫人海蒂婶之追思仪式， 在她九十－年之人生中 ，充满传奇精彩和关爱， 她应该感到非常满足了。

A Perfect Life --In Memory Of Mrs. Hedwig Lee 

In the early 70’s, after completing 

our master's degrees from Lamar University, my wife and I drove an older model Chevrolet to Houston and moved into a rental apartment. We were faced with a major life decision at that time. If we wanted to stay, we must take the opportunity to apply for green cards. Otherwise, we would become illegal residents. 

When I first set foot in San Francisco, there was a tall Lee’s family building on Grant Avenue in Chinatown. When I walked into the building there were many clan members there and they welcomed me warmly as a brother. With their support, I compiled a newspaper for them I called Lee’s Monthly. There was high praise 

for my job and this was the first publication for our family association. But it was my goal to come to America. I eventually made a determination to leave and go on to Texas and seek the real American culture and my dream.

After we arrived in Houston, with    the introduction of Uncle Jimmy Lee,  one day we walked into Lee’s printing company on Leland Avenue which was owned by Uncle Gene Lee. At that time we saw a beautiful and dignified-looking western lady sitting in the office. She was Mrs. Lee who Uncle Gene had met when he served in the U.S. military as an American GI. He got to her heart by using a dictionary because they couldn’t communicate with each other because of the language barrier.  This is such a touching love story. 

With the initiative of Uncle Gene, we and attorney Williams, David Ng and Uncle Henry Lee jointly founded the first Chinese newspaper in Texas.     

I became an editor again and my pregnant wife Catherine had to learn how to type in Chinese, but finally we published a newspaper. Of course, then we were able to also get our green cards.

The help from Uncle Gene and others will never be forgotten. It said that the original copy of the Southwest Chinese newspaper was donated to Rice University. It also represents a precious historical record of our Chinese history in the United States. 

Today we attended the memorial service ceremony for Aunt Hedwig Lee, wife of Gene Lee. In her 91 years, she was always full of joy and lived a wonderful life. She should be very satisfied.