One Day

My grandmother has near photographic memory. Despite her ripe old age of 86, she could probably recite brands of grocery items she bought last week. Which she did in front of me. After putting aside my jealousy, I asked her the question I should have asked her years ago: “How did you make it in New York?” I never had a chance to ask her this question. I know that her history is interesting from the way my mom would talk about her childhood, but it was never the right place or time to ask my grandmother such a personal question. Eventually, due to the enclosing assignment deadline, I made time to ask her. Her response was to a question about her entire life was to simply tell me about a day that she feels represents everything she has ever done or worked for. This day is only twenty four hours long yet summarizes five years of her life. This is the day she lived over and over again for five years. To me it sounded like a nightmare, however my grandmother responded it was a hardship.

Nightmares are fiction; hardships are trials that one needs to overcome to move along in life.

My grandmother moved into Chinatown when she first arrived in America. It was the only place Chinese immigrants lived at the time. She worked in a garment factory in the industrial section of Chinatown, just like every other Chinese immigrant back then. My mother was a teenager then and did not require constant attention. However, my aunt was still in elementary school and was, and still is, an attention seeker. Grandma had to walk and pick her up from school each day. My grandmother’s entire day for these five years revolved around earning money for her family and her family. She wanted to see her children succeed with the new opportunities in America and worked hard to provide those opportunities for them. Each day began at 7 am sharp. Grandma had to prepare breakfast for the entire family. After dropping off my aunt at school she would hurry to start her job at 8 pm. Her job at the garment factory was to sew and glue the fabrics for a blanket.

She told me that even when the other workers were sleeping on the job, she would still continue to work. She said that the family motto is equivalent exchange: whatever you put in you get out.

Her job ending promptly at 5pm where she would dash back to the elementary school to pick up my aunt. Who was usually sulking about getting picked up an hour after dismissal. They would go to Mott street, pick up some groceries and return home to eat. The following video shows this day in a rather crude stop motion.

After five years, time un-paused after my mother got married and my aunt became old enough to take care of herself. With that my grandmother left me with a single remark. Even if each of those days were the same tiring and grueling day, she would do it all over again just to see the family grow and succeed again. Although, she did mention that even if those days were the same, the lottery numbers each day were not.