The Childhood of Two Generations: My childhood vs. My parents’ All I know about my parents’ childhood came from the story that my grandparents told me, and some old pictures that my parents showed me. Even if they have seen the pictures, the memories of their childhood still fade from their minds. I felt that they do not want to reminisce about that period of time. When I look back to my boyhood and compare it with my parents’, I realize that my generation enjoys huge benefits from a stable political environment to new technology, as well as advanced medical techniques. My parents were born ten years after the establishment of the new China.
Unfortunately, both of them faced the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution. I try to recall my childhood and then I figure out that for most sunny afternoons, I played soccer with my friends without thinking of my future. However, around 1975, my father had joined army and my mother had already worked for a local factory. My father often asks me the question, “Son, have you ever considered that if you were born in 1960s, how you would manage your life? ” I do not know the answer or honestly, I am embarrassed to tell him the truth that I would probably mess my life up.
Maybe I have more knowledge than my parents, but I would not be as brave as them when facing challenges. Five years ago, I came to Canada and started my life alone. Even if I cannot go back to China very often, my parents are able to see me through video chat. Thanks to social networks, my parents are able to get closer to my Canadian life which not only from virtual video, but also through the pictures that I post on websites. Although the distance between us is over ten thousand miles, I still feel that we are not far away from each other.
With the help of virtual technology I am not so homesick. I wonder if my father could use this technology, whether he could overcome the three hour ride homesick when he was in the army. When I was young, every time I coughed, I could see my mother’s eyes fill of anxiety. I thought it was funny that only a cough would make me be in trouble. Few years later, I figured out that my mother’s anxiety came from the fear for tuberculosis. Even though tuberculosis can be easily treated in nowadays, it was one of the most dangerous diseases in China around 1970s.
