I was too young to remember the struggles that my parents went through. While I knew we weren’t wealthy later in life, I knew that everything we ever needed was always met and taken care of. If anything Kevin and I were a bit spoiled and didn’t really get to know what it could be like to struggle with finances. While dad’s story is not unique it does offer perspective.
My dad grew up in Shanghai, raised by his grandmother. The rest of his family had already moved to Hong Kong. He’s always been a very bright man, but realized that the burden of college would be too much for his family. He attended a junior college and became a commissioned radio officer for the merchant marines. He spent six years on the water before meeting my mom, at which point he realized that he needed to have a land based life. He told my mom that he was going to leave the service and move to the US. My mom was at that point planning to go to Rutgers for her master’s degree.
He first landed in LA, where he worked for two months in a photo development store. The owner there was apparently not very honest, and cheated my dad out of his salary. Angry, my dad moved to NY, where he began working as a bus boy in a Chinese restaurant, and moved his way up: waiter, bar tender, then a manager. Eventually he moved to a larger restaurant but disliked the supervisors and quit. During this time he had already started formulating his idea of opening an auto shop. He still needed some more income at the time so he began driving a cab in NYC. I’m still confirming dates, I believe this is around the time my parents got married. He eventually opened his auto shop the month before I was born, which probably presented it’s own difficulties.
My dad, is a very perceptive man. He is can read people very easily, and has a very refined understanding of his customers and their thoughts. While he never thinks of himself as being very sophisticated, I can see where Kevin get’s a lot of his characteristics. I’m more like my mom when it comes to these things, more gullible and trusting, but thankfully I got both of their desires to learn and be inquisitive. In case I forget to tell my kids this, or they don’t get to experience this, your grandfather lives by a very simple creed. Loyalty to your family is always primary. Do whatever it takes to protect them and provide for them, everything else is secondary. I know we have all been blessed with his steadfastness in this belief.
Thanks Dad, and happy birthday.