A repeat since my Chinese friends liked it: A Chinese boy, last name of
Yong, was born somewhere about 1900 or shortly thereafter in China. He was early on dissatisfied with his life. He could see, working from dawn till dark everyday, wasn't there some better place? He was a definite oddball and he had read a few fairy tales and always thought there must be a better place to live. So there came a time when he was in his teens, that some relatives came to visit and they worked the Pacific Ocean as sailors. By luck they needed a cabin boy and this kid jumped at the chance. He may have taken an extra shirt but he didn't have much.
"If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes."
He liked the Philippines, and he thought Hawaii was great but working on a plantation was just not his cup of tea. They stopped in San Francisco and he thought wow and figured that was the place. However the ship was going to Los Angeles and then to Mexico and then come back along the same route. He could wait.
"El Cigarillo" por Ana Gabriel
LA was another San Francisco and of course they met many nice people that spoke the same Chinese and beautiful Chinese girls too. So when they left for Mexico he knew it would be San Francisco or Los Angeles.
At the seaport in Mexico they happened to run into some Chinese that spoke the same Chinese that he did and they had a "car." They explained that the Revolution in Mexico was just over and everyone was going to make money, about 1919. He "jumped" ship with his meager belongings and went with them to Guamuchil in the State of Sinaloa.
"Con El Mismo Corazon" por Ana Gabriel.
They got him a job as clean up boy in the local Chinese restaurant and he worked 10 hours a day six days a week. He got all his meals and a little extra for a room and luxuries. He had not learned Chinese reading and writing very well but now he decided to learn the Spanish language and he learned it well.
He learned how to go without, to save a little money and he worked his way into the kitchen and became assistant cook. And meanwhile he had met a nice Mexican girl, not too poor and not rich. Got married and settled down. He had a good partner and together they acquired a piece of ground and built a shack for themselves.
Eventually he got the job of chief cook and he realized that this was a much better life than he had ever envisioned before. With his good wife and partner, on weekends they built a home for themselves. They had several children and one of his daughters was born right about the time that I was born. (1925) And she in turn married a nice middle class Mexican and they had several children and a daughter, named
Maria Guadalupe Araujo Yong. Latin Style, first name, middle name, fathers last name and mother's last name. She was born in 1955, and is now almost 60 years old.
"Eres Todo En Mi" por Ana Gabriel
She could sing pretty good before she was ten and her parents got her some good teachers. She learned music and singing and eventually became the reigning queen of Mexico singers. And her stage name now is
Ana Gabriel. Before he passed, when she had concerts in the vicinity she always made arrangement for her Chinese grandfather to attend her concerts. He could have gotten front row but he always insisted on sitting on the side of the theater.
Her favorite introduction always included her acquaintances and friends in the audience and there were many. She would thank the Governor of the state, the Mayor of the City, and the other dignitaries.
And as always she would notice, "and that old Chinese man over there on that side, I know him, Hola Abuelito" (Hi Grandpa) and of course the old man would beam - for the audience it was always a touching scene.
