Guardian Angel of Tower City

Does the feeling of home begin from that night when the warm lamps are on and the sweet smell of cakes fills the air, as we sit around the table and eat dumplings together? …

It was a November morning, and I was sitting alone in the library of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. Through the huge glass windows, I looked at the clear and transparent sunshine from the south, flowing down and covering the ancient tree in front of the window with shining golden armor. Every time the wind blows, thousands of leaves dance and fall, as if they are a group of happy elves, running all the way to the embrace of mother earth. In the deserted library outside the window, I was sitting more than ten years ago, with a book spread out in front of me. It was the first time that I left home and traveled across the ocean to the United States to reunite with my husband, who had been studying abroad for half a year. What I left behind was not only the emotions of separation, but also a world of my own.

▲The logo of the University of Alabama in Tower City.

smiling eyes

On the first Sunday after arriving in Tacheng, my husband took me to church. As soon as I entered the door, I felt a gaze covering me. I followed the gaze and met a pair of smiling eyes. She is of medium build, in her thirties, with short ear-length hair, and is nestled next to a seven or eight-year-old girl. After talking, we learned that her name was Di, from the Northeast, and she was a doctor in China. Here, she became the accompanying wife of a postdoctoral researcher. Although she didn't speak much, she had a calming power.

At that time, I had not yet started to choose courses and I had a lot of free time. She took me to the strawberry farm to pick strawberries, to the theater to watch movies, and to the market to buy seafood. Once, he took me home and said he wanted to teach me how to make cakes. She took out measuring utensils of different sizes and put them in a row like a house wine. She taught me how to mix the various ingredients according to the recipe. Then, she handed over a petal-shaped baking pan and asked me to grease it with oil and pour it in and The good cake juice is put into the oven. Soon, the tempting aroma of cake filled the air. At the same time, Di was able to mix noodles, mix stuffing, and make dumplings with ease...

Tacheng gave me the feeling of home. Did it start from that night when the warm lamps were on, the sweet smell of cakes filled the air, and two families sat around the table, eating dumplings together?

Di Shen is quiet and reserved, but makes people feel approachable. When I was planning to study, the school required us to have US$10,000 in our bank account before I could apply. Since her husband was a "postdoctoral fellow" and had income, I went to her for help. Without saying a word, she immediately wrote a check and deposited it into our account. I once told her that my husband was baptized as a Christian a month after coming to the United States. She looked at me with smiling eyes and said meaningfully, "This is a blessed person!" When I attended the "Southeastern America Gospel Camp" and raised my hand When I made the decision to believe in Jesus, she was the first to come up with a smile on her face after the meeting, shake hands with me and congratulate me, as if she had been looking forward to this moment for a long time.

▲In the early spring of that year, friends went on a trip together (the first from the right is Di, the third from the right is the author).

Be a comfort to others

One year during Thanksgiving, when I was just pregnant, I noticed bleeding. At dusk, when the sky turned dark and the wind turned cold, all the Chinese students in the dormitory went to attend a Thanksgiving party one after another. Before leaving, my husband asked me if I would go. I chose to sit alone in the darkness, looking out the window at the leaden gray sky that was about to rain, and my thoughts were spinning in my mind.

I called Di. At that time, her husband had found a new job and the family had moved to New York. She revealed that she was once pregnant with a baby boy, who was unexpectedly stillborn during delivery. The pain of loss makes her shed tears every time she thinks about it. Who would have expected that such a person who had been hit by suffering and had wounds in his heart that could not be healed would become a comfort to others in the future because he had gone through the pain.

In the end, the fetus in my belly was irretrievably gone. Dee sent a package of preserves and a painting drawn by his daughter from New York. He wrote in the letter: "God takes away, and He also gives. I believe He will I will give you something better.”

The last phone call was not long after I started working. At that time, I started to apply for a green card. Seeing that the waiting time was far away, I couldn't help but feel anxious. She comforted her on the phone and said, "How can anyone hire a lawyer but not be able to get a green card?" After hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh. Later, we moved one after another and lost contact in the vast sea of people. Back then, she appeared like an angel and disappeared like an angel. However, the days that I walked with you have become an eternal memory.

Nowadays, when I comfort my friends and say, "Is there anything I can't get a green card for?" a pair of calm and warm eyes will rise from my heart, and I will realize that I am accompanying and comforting the way Di did back then. Another strange and restless heart.

Author profile
Sinan, who came to West Lake Village in California from the West Lake in Hangzhou, is an electronic engineer and has a son and a daughter, which allows me to interpret the universe of the human heart through the eyes of a child.