Yesterday was my nephew John Jackson Saynyarack's birthday. It is hard to believe he is 3 years old already. My older brother Moses and his second wife were having a gathering for him in their home in Oklahoma City. My mother, niece Bouachanh, brother Khamke, sister Oneta and their families were all there to celebrate his birthday. Wish I could be there with my family too. In stead we have been very busy with our live in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. It seems as if many plans did not come true. I never thought I would become a high school science teacher. I thought I would become this world renounced medical doctor like Dr. Thomas Dooley, or Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Mr. Pawell Depta was right when he told me one early morning at the Cambridge Public Library, "One thing I've learned in life is that I can't plan for my future. I thought I was going to come to the United States to study and get a degree in social or political science, and go back home to Poland to do something big. Here I am a reference librarian in a public library."
I could have taken Mr. Depta's advise and never left the library for St. George's University School of Medicine in Greneda, West Indies. Yet, I didn't. Instead of becoming a world renounced physician, I've become a good science teacher for teenagers. I don't mind being with them. I enjoy watching them grow in science and education. I've come to accept that life is too short, to wait to live for tomorrow. My daughters are 16 and 14. My wife has worked in the same place for 15 years while I've been doing whatever I can to be the first Kmhmu-Lao-American to become a medical doctor in the United States. Now I just need to be come a certified physician. So, I can help sick people through medicine and repay my student loans.
I am sorry John Jackson, uncle couldn't be there for your third birthday. May God bless you with good health, wealth and prosperity. May you continue to grow your beautiful life as a great Kmhmu-American someday. With all my love.
This is my daily inner voice
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What ever happened to Pawell Depta !?... did he go over to Widner Library?...
ReplyDeleteMr. Pawell Depta, his wife and son moved to Colorado after retirement from the Cambridge Public Library. The last time I saw him was in 1996 or 1997 when he came all the way from Colorado to visit us in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. He told me he was working for a growing funeral business. He wife went back to library science. Their son went on as a a teacher somewhere in different state. Mr. Depta is an amazing individual. I am sure he has found his way back to visit the Widner library. Even today, when someone has a cold, I would always make the person a chicken noodle soup as Mr. Depta would. He said after escaping from the Hitlers, he was very ill. A German lady took him in and fed him with chicken noodle soup. Somehow he managed to survive because of her care. For the rest of his life, he would make chicken noodle soup for those who are sick. It works.
ReplyDeleteThank for asking about Mr. Depta. He is dear to my heart. Hope you're well, the Zak.