Your Jerome has called me personally to tell me you are on the mend and that you have picked up your yellow pad again. I am filled with joy to hear that you are writing your wondrous words. The world may be waiting to read your newest story but it is I who will be the happiest to see your name on a book in the window of the bookstore again. Emma! You have written many wonderful tales. My chest is puffed with pride for your skill.
I send this letter with my feet above the ground as I float with joy that you are almost whole again. Stay well, sweet Emma. I will pray to my Chinese Gods. By now I do not think they consider you not-so-Chinese but almost-Chinese.
~~~~~~~
5 January
Dear Emma,
Your note has filled me with special joy. You will be a mother! Emma! The child of your union with Jerome is a blessing in many ways. It means you are complete in healing and sound again. For that I am joyous beyond words. And a mother! Emma! The child is blessed for you will raise it with great care and much love. Your heart is so loving and giving and your son or your daughter will bask in your joy. The time of your birthing is near Mei Ling's time. She is also blooming with child and all of us, she, I, and our two sons await the child with much anticipation.
I have moved my family into a bigger house. This one has 4 rooms for sleeping! Mei Ling and I sleep in one room with a bath attached to it. My two sons sleep in another and number 3 child will have a room that Mei Ling has devoted as a baby's room. Devoted is an American word she is fond of saying. The reason escapes me but there are so many other American words Mei Ling could have become attached to so I am grateful this is one that is an acceptable one. In the number 4 sleeping room, Mei Ling does "things." She has planted flower seeds in pots that stand in the window frame. She has bits and pieces of cloth in that room and her needles and cutting implements and she also has baskets filled with things that I do not wish to know about. One can only hope they are toys or herbs her mother has shown her how to preserve.
Beyond that, the room is a mystery that only women know about and as such I will respect that it is hers and leave the mystery to her. I think that might be one of those things Chinese men do to preserve peace with the Chinese woman who is the mother of his children and who prepares the meals.
There are 2 more bath rooms - one upstairs and one down stairs. There is a kitchen and a place within it to eat breakfast. Mei Ling does not sit with crossed legs when she breaks the morning fast. My sons do that and when they do it reminds me of you. We eat the evening's meal in a separate room with a table and many chairs. There is also a formal receiving room for guests and a smaller room for hanging coats - what a waste of space. The house has a deck in the front and another in the back and both are nice places to sit in the evening. The yard is big, Emma! So big! I had to hire a man with a mowing machine to keep the yard neat so that Mei Ling will not be embarrassed by untidiness. I think very-old-Chinese women are passionate about clean and tidy.
This Chinese man misses his not-so-Chinese-but-almost-Chinese friend. Be well, Emma. Blossom with child and be happy.
Kyou
~~~~~~~
17 May
Dear Emma,
You are delivered! Jerome called me to say that a daughter has been welcomed into your family and that she is a look-in-the-mirror image of you! I will allow my sons to know her only after they have learned to exercise restraint. If they are like me, they will want to hold her in their embrace. My feet lift me high to celebrate your joy.
And I also have a daughter now and she is much like her mother as well as my own mother - two Chinese women that the Gods have graced with beauty and with much patience. And she, like your own, will draw a man to her side when she is older though I shall keep her to myself for as long as I can. Her name is Ling Shou which means beautiful love and she is beautiful and will be much loved. I know she will be spoiled by her mother and her two brothers. As her proud father, I will refrain from spoiling her when people are looking.
I did not think there was a prettier American name than Emma, but Amelia is a beautiful name. It trips on my tongue like ripples and I like it very much. I think it is very-old-world-American and I am glad to know she is named for your good friend and not for Jerome's mother. I fear she is probably not outgrown her unpleasant ways. It has been my very good fortune that I have not had to meet Mei Ling's mother. I have been told that her tongue is sharp like a shark's tooth and her temper rivals poor indigestion.
Our daughters were born within the same 24-hour day. That is auspicious and perhaps one day they, too, will be friends. I thanked my Gods for the healthy birth of your child and of mine. It is a blessing they come into this world with swiftness and the smallest discomfort to their mothers. I am also pleased they have all their parts and appear to be capable of being very proper people.
Please accept this single pearl entwined through a silk ribbon. Please allow Amelia to wear this around her neck when she is formally named by your man of God. Your Gods will bless her as belonging to the "old" and to the "new" and the many Chinese Gods will accept her as one of their own flock and give a care for her all her days.
I wish you a speedy birth recovery.
Kyou
~~~~~~~
2 June
Dear Emma,
I was puffed with pride to receive your gift. Ling Shou was bestowed with green jade from my elderly parents. Your gift of red jade, and the white jade that is flecked with gold are gifts we Chinese reserve for the heads of dynasties. I know you know this because I remember telling you the fairy tale stories of my own childhood. Thank you for revering our family with your honored and respectful gift. Mei Ling also sends her thanks and is honored to receive your gift.
My daughter has four eager laps to hold her. Her brothers are swayed by her kicking legs and small laughter. Mei Ling fears she will be covered in red blotches if her soiled linen is not changed within moments and I, her proud father, simply wish to hold her upon my chest and bask in the sweetness of her presence. Often I hold her while I thank the Gods for her in this world and in my life. I have whispered to her of you and your Amelia.
I think of you Emma and I send my friendship and affection. My heart has come back to me in pieces - for my sons and for my daughter and yes also for Mei Ling. A part of it resides in Pittsburgh yet. I know not how to bring all of it back to me.
We prosper and hope you and Jerome and the small mirror image of you prosper as well.
Kyou