I went back to college in IT in my mid 20’s, already older than the average student. As I was trying to change careers from food service to IT I had to be very serious and study very hard. There was also another Chinese woman a little older than me. As we were both desperate, we were both the most serious, studied the hardest and got the best grades. Her name was Chi.

Chi had a degree in Chinese literature in Taiwan. She had been married and had a young son, Gregory. Her husband came to Delaware to do fast-food business. He later invited Chi and Gregory to come. When Chi arrived with no English, her husband grabbed Greggory, told Chi he had another relationship and left her high and dry with little support. Chi was in no position to fight over Gregory as she couldn’t even speak English.

Chi was an extremely motivated woman. She also was very personable and could make friends with anyone in any position. She immediately enrolled in E.S.L. and shortly after enrolled in community college computer sciences. That’s when I met Chi, and we became best friends. Chi also had another friend, her English tutor Ed, whom she married a few years later. Ed and Chi lived happily ever after. Gregory grew up, married and had grand children for Chi and Ed.

When Chi was engaged to Ed, she told me that she would like me to meet her youngest sister from Taiwan, Chi We. All five sisters were named Chi 1 -5 in Mandarin.

I often dated and had girlfriends on and off, but nothing ever really worked out for me. Chi Wei showed up with a visitor’s visa and we dated. Chi Wei didn’t speak any English, so we weren’t really intimate, but we dated and got along. We thought we had enough in common though both wanting a child very much who would be loved. We both had a lot in common but a lot more not in common. Never-the-less, I went to Taiwan and got married. It was an adventure and a story unto itself.

Alicia was born after ten months pregnancy and had a full head of black hair. She didn’t want to leave her mother but finally the doctor said that she must.  Shortly after, we moved from my condo in with Chi Wei’s mother and eldest sister Da Jei. My friend Chi provided the house at a very low insignificant rent. The house was in a nice area next to an animal farm park where I could take Alicia on many walks.

I found out a lot about Chi’s family. Chi’s parents were from China. Her father had to fight the Japanese and the communists. He had a rough life. He sent his wife and his eldest daughter to Taiwan on a crowded boat out where many fell overboard to die or were left behind to die. They had no food or water on the boat. Chi’s mother was in Nanjing when the Japanese pillaged, raped and killed. She was fortunate to get to Taiwan because her husband was a Nationalist soldier. Chi’s parents witnessed tragedy. Chi’s mother was a Christian as was my wife Chi Wei.

Chi’s father was prisoner of the Japanese. They kept him in water up to his neck. He somehow escaped with guns shooting at him and dogs chasing him down. Later he arrived in Taiwan.

Chi’s father always wanted a son. Instead, he had five daughters. He was very angry at his wife for only having daughters. It is ironic though that each daughter had a son except for Chi Wei, the youngest, who had a daughter with me, Alicia Jiuann. It turns out, the eldest sister’s partner planned to take her son, Raymond, and go with another woman. He never saw Raymond again. Raymond became Chi’s father’s son that he never had and was raised as his son.

Eldest sister lived her life for Raymond. She doted on him. She made him study and learn violin. She prepared him for success. Eldest sister’s father adopted Raymond as a son that his wife didn’t have so it turned out that he was very happy. As for eldest sister, she never married or had a partner and was almost a servant to the family. She swallowed her pride, but her place would drastically change.

Raymond first studied in Taiwan where it was much harder. When he came here, he was far beyond our school system. He excelled and got invitations to study at every Ivy Leage university.  Raymond turned out to be an entrepreneur who became very financially successful and married a successful wife. Raymond’s mother, the eldest sister, went from being the servant to having anything in the world she could ever desire. Raymond took good care of his mother, and she never went wanting of anything again.

One sister went back to Taiwan with her partner. Their son stayed with her and went into computer science where he excelled. Another sister went to Canada from Taiwan. They speak French. Gregory became a successful corporate lawyer in the Big Apple. Raymond became a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.  Alicia, the only daughter, also became an artist entrepreneur. Alicia is engaged to an awesome guy Elijah. Coincidentally, Elijah was born on the same day of the year as me so Alicia can’t forget our birthdays. Elijah’s last name is Smith. Alicia’s last name is Ferrara which is the Italian version of “Smith”.

Chi Wei and I only lasted around ten years. It turned out, we really had little in common. We were always civil and respectful of each other. Alicia always had two parents who loved her and were respectful of each other.