Life in the past month...

Life in the past month was beyond crazy -- I traveled non-stop from 2/27/17 until now, and will be going back to China tomorrow for 12 days!

In the mist of this craziness, I got to spend a few days with Dr. Michelle in northern California last week.  I was traveling for work and she met up with me in San Francisco...  We went through the winter snow storm in Yosemite and spring sunshine along the beautiful northern California coastline -- it was a pure delight. The truth is, we really don't get to see Michelle too often now.  She is a poor little intern, first year in her residency program with a very busy schedule...  For once, please allow me to share a few photos of her.  On the entire trip, she was a very devoted photographer who took some really nice pictures!!

Other than that, I spent 202 hours over the past few months watching Grace Anatomy, all 12 seasons and 269 episodes - unbelievable time commitment!!  My only goal was to gain a better understanding of the lives of these young, ambitious residents -- how they grow from a senseless little intern to a great doctor who can save people's lives!  Amazing development!! 

Northern California
March 5-7, 2017 

The Great Migration

Inspired by my friend's enthusiasm, I visited Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri last weekend. The experience was amazing, and it reminded me of the trip to New Mexico a few years ago when we saw the snow geese migration for the first time.

Sunrise with snow geese is spectacular. These little birds would sing and dance and circle around the skies to create this incredible morning symphony for the world. The event is overwhelming and stunning to say the least. After putting out the magnificent show of the day, they would finally take off and start their day in the free world, where only the sky is their limit...

When you think about it, these little guys each looks rather ugly. But together, they bring so much beauty to the world - they show us the power of unity!

Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge
February 18-20, 2017

 

 

My Friend Bill (2)

Yeah, per email below, it's been almost 4 years since Bill first got diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer.  I made sure to go visit him every few months just to see how he was doing.  He left his job after the cancer diagnosis.  However, he has been incredibly upbeat, trying to live with uncertainty and help his family prepare for the worst.  I've told him many times that he is a living miracle, and there are many more years ahead of him!

We made a special trip to visit Bill on Monday.  His pancreatic cancer has spread to his lungs, and he started the 3rd round of chemo therapy.  He was undoubtedly a bit depressed, as if he could almost see the end.  We talked, and as always, he was very reflective.  He told us how proud he is of his sons and how he believes everything will be just fine...  I don't know, there seems to be a force from above that will eventually take control of our destinies.  I don't know, I'd like to think that, in some limited ways, we can define our lives... we can define who we are and how we'd want to continue living.

Not sure if Bill can make it to his 70th birthday... Life is short, life is fragile, life is unpredictable, and life is full of surprises...  I can only hope that we all live a life without major regrets.

Cherish each day of our lives.  Live the life you love, love the life you live!!            

---

From: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
To: Pei Tang <tang_pei@yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2013 9:12 PM
Subject: My friend Bill

It's my friend Bill's 66th birthday today.  I felt so fortunate to be able to celebrate it with him along with his family and 100+ other friends.

I can't recall the exact date when I met Bill, but I do remember it was through one of my graduate school classes in early 1990.  He was a patient, experienced professor, and I was a confused foreign student. 

In the summer of 1990, right after my graduation, Bill called me one day and told me that there was a job opening for a Research Assistant at a market research firm in downtown Chicago.  In August 1990, I started my very first job in my life.  Looking back, it's been 23 years since I got to know Bill.  To me, it was a very LONG 23 years filled with many ups and downs in life... 

I worked at my first job for about 5 years, then got into healthcare analytics for the next 18 years.  Like millions of working-class Americans, I've devoted so much of my heart and soul to my career -- growing from a little Research Assistant to a Research Associate to a Sr. Consultant to a Manager to a Sr. Director.  I spent the next 8 years being a corporate Vice President and then the most recent 2 years being the Chief Informatics Officer of the company.  Yes, it's been a long, bumpy road.  And sometimes when I look back, it all seems to be such a big blur...  Honestly, I don't know where I would be today had I not met Bill 23 years ago!

I have not seen or talked to Bill for the past 18 years.  Two weeks ago, out of the blue, I got an email from him inviting me to his birthday party on 7/20/13.  In the email, he told me that he had recently been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer, and he would like me to attend his birthday celebration.  I picked up the phone and called him immediately.  We talked -- about his boys and my little Michelle, about his job and my job, about our coworkers, about the past...  I made sure to tell him how much I appreciate all the help he's given me and how much his friendship means to me.

So, the birthday party came and went today.  I tried to fit into his circle of friends and relate to their lives -- over 100 of them!!  Bill gave an unusual birthday speech, deeply reflective and very emotional.  When you think about it, we meet so many people on our journey of life, but very few of them can really touch our lives in a special way.  Bill is one of those very few people in my life, and I am forever thankful for having him as a friend.

Life is very short and unpredictable, live and enjoy it fully.  Live the life you love and love the life you live!!

Between Moon-set and Moon-rise

It's usually a 13-hour ordeal that involves 5 hours of driving and 8 hours of standing in freezing winds... But this time, it was a bit longer.

 

Inspired by my friend's eagle shots with golden river waves at sunrise, I got up at 3:45am and left home at 4:30am.  It was dark, as always, but the difference this time was -- the almost-full moon was setting right in front of me.  Reddish orange color, hanging quietly in the sky and sliding down smoothly...  It's nothing like sunset, where you can see and feel the residual power long after the sun sets.  With the moon-set, there is tremendous quietness to it.  It brings you beauty and imagination, but then it disappears suddenly and completely -- GONE, just like that!  You find yourself being left in the dark again... but with more thoughts and even more imagination!

I finished the day around 4:30pm.  As I drove home, the moon was quietly rising in the sky.  Unlike the sunrise, moon-rise does not scream for attention.  It just blends into the late afternoon sky calmly with its bluish white color and forever elegance... I wonder if there will ever be a time when people start paying more attention to the beauty of moon-rise and moon-set.     

In between the moon-set and moon-rise, I was able to capture some pretty awesome actions!  

February 9, 2017

Quad Cities, Iowa

Hunting for Lunch

It's usually a 13-hour ordeal that involves 6 hours of driving and 7 hours of standing in freezing winds... We were very lucky on Sunday when the temperature was pretty mild (at 37F).

Just an FYI -- except for the first photo, all other photos have a fish in them. So look long and hard for it -:))

Quad City, Iowa
February 5, 2017

Let There Be Voice

This is dedicated to my father, who was a successful journalist in China and never had a chance to taste freedom of speech, free press and democracy!

The closest "democracy" he ever experienced was on 4/5/1976.  After the Chinese Prime Minister Zhou En Lai died, hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Tian An Men Square in Beijing to pay their respect to Zhou.  It was toward the end of Culture Revolution, even when people had tremendous dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, no one dared to openly shout out what's on their mind; and no one dared to bring a large sign with their favorite statement written on it.  Instead, they posted small hand-written notes on People's Monument -- thousands and thousands of them...  My father quietly went to Tian An Men Square on 4/5/1976, all by himself, and took nearly a hundred pictures.  Weeks following that day, we spent so much time together in our "dark room" to develop those photos.  I was stunned when I saw people's sad faces and read those beautiful poems -- it was so REAL.  None of them got published, of course.  In fact, none of his coworkers even knew that he had the courage to go and capture those precious historical moments.

I am so thankful for having the opportunity to come to America, where free speech and democracy is truly valued.  As I marched on the streets in downtown Chicago, as I read all the signs and heard all the words, I thought about my father, and I told myself to forever cherish democracy -- the very thing that my father had always wanted to experience. 

https://zine.la/article/f2114286e10f11e6b7ca52540d79d783/?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=1
       

Women's March
Chicago, IL
January 21, 2017

 

My journey to digitize history...

It's an amazingly quiet weekend -- after all the holiday craziness, all the noise and crowds, spending a 3-day weekend quietly at home is indeed a wonderful treat.

I know it sounds a bit crazy... but I am continuing on my long journey to digitize history. 

For all the text messages between me and Michelle, starting on 6/9/2009, line by line, I put them in an Excel worksheet.  Each line has its date, time and the message.  As of today, there are 10,106 lines.  I didn't record anything prior to 6/9/2009 because it didn't occur to me that my phone might die one day...  

For all the emails between me and Michelle, starting on 9/11/1999, I put them all in a Word document.  As of today, the document has 503 pages.  The very first email was from my little Michelle, on 6/9/1999 at age 9, saying: "Hi mommy, how are you?  I miss you."  It was quite a revolutionary experience for Michelle to learn that we could communicate this way!

As many of you know, I have been putting all the emails into books.  As of today, I've made 7 books for Michelle, each contains about 70 pages.  Attached are the covers for those 7 books.

Book 1 = Horizon.  This is the book I made for Michelle as a part of her high school graduation gift.  It covers her young life from 1990 (when she was born) through 2008 (right before she graduated from high school).

Book 2 = High School Years.  This book covers Michelle's high school years from 5/2004 to 2/2008.  It contains all (and only) the emails between me and Michelle's high school teachers.  Seventy pages of them!! 

Books 3-7 = Footprints.  The fine prints at the lower right-hand corner of each book indicates the time period covered in that book.  These books carry all the emails between me and Michelle.

Let's hope that some day, in a very distant future, in our old ages, we would have the time, interest and calm minds to enjoy the history.