Anyone Who Says That Women Do Not

People Write To Me All The Time, And I Write Back.

We Hug, But There Are No Tears. For Every Awful Thing That's Been Said And Done, She Is My Sister. Parents Die, Daughters Grow Up And Marry Out, But Sisters Are For Life. She Is The Only Person Left In The World Who Shares My Memories Of Our Childhood, Our Parents, Our Shanghai, Our Struggles, Our Sorrows, And, Yes, Even Our Moments Of Happiness And Triumph. My Sister Is The One Person Who Truly Knows Me, As I Know Her. The Last Thing May Says To Me Is 'when Our Hair Is White, We'll Still Have Our Sister Love.

People Say You Need To Be Strong, Smart, And Lucky To Survive Hard Times, War, A Natural Disaster, Or Physical Torture. But I Say Emotional Abuse—anxiety, Fear, Guilt, And Degradation—is Far Worse And Much Harder To Survive.

Mama Used To Tell Us A Story About A Cicada Sitting High In A Tree. It Chirps And Drinks In Dew, Oblivious To The Praying Mantis Behind It. The Mantis Arches Up Its Front Leg To Stab The Cicada, But It Doesn't Know An Oriole Perches Behind It. The Bird Stretches Out Its Neck To Snap Up The Mantis For A Midday Meal, But Its Unaware Of The Boy Who's Come Into The Garden With A Net. Three Creatures—the Cicada, The Mantis And The Oriole—all Coveted Gains Without Being Aware Of The Greater And Inescapable Danger That Was Coming.

A Laotong Relationship Is Made By Choice...when We First Looked In Each Other's Eyes In The Palanquin I Felt Something Special Pass Between Us--like A Spark To Start A Fire Or A Seed To Grow Rice. But A Single Spark Is Not Enough To Warm A Room Nor Is A Single Seed Enough To Grow A Fruitful Crop. Deep Love--true-heart Love--must Grow.