Girl in Translation

ave Matt this: his life with Vivian and his family, his simple happiness. At the same time, I took away his life with us. I owed Jason a great debt, one I could never repay. I kept him from his father all these years. When I gave Matt up, I forced Jason to do the same. For my attempt at nobility, our son paid the price.

raising a family together, wavered against the reflection of my headlights on the tar and disappeared into the air like smoke from a fire.

A future of lying with him every night in our bed,

could let go of my past with Matt. But what really hurt was the reanimation of a dream I’d thought I’d let go of.

I got off my bike and walked a little closer. Matt stood there in the morning light, glorious in a thin T-shirt he’d changed into. He leaned on the railing while the highway rumbled behind him and the smog rose into the air. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

When you broke up with me, you shattered my heart. At first, I believed you that we were too different. ‘A bamboo door needs a bamboo door and a metal door needs a metal door.’ I’ll never forget you saying those words. I always knew you were better than me, but I couldn’t figure it out either, how you could be so cold all of a sudden. And then I counted the days and I knew.

could remember now the reason I’d lied to Matt all those years before: to avoid dooming our child to this lovely little girl’s fate. But who was I to say that she, too, wouldn’t take her future into her own hands? This was the reason Vivian had been given a whole life to spend, every day of every year, with my Matt.

When you and Matt finally got together, it was something no one could fight. I’ve seen you love each other for years. When you were younger, I told you not to get too close to the other kids. I was afraid he would lead you down the wrong path. I understood later, however, that no one could lead you astray. I’m so proud of you. But sometimes our fate is different from the one we imagined for ourselves

instead, I would have regretted it the rest of my life. I’ve never stopped loving your pa, even now that he’s been gone for so many years.”

When I chose your pa over Bob, I never imagined Aunt Paula would still bring us to America. She told me when she left Hong Kong that I would die there. I thought I was giving up my future for him. But if I’d married Bob in