公公 (Gong Gong)
As many know, my grandfather passed away this summer due to Covid complications. He originally went to the hospital because he had fainted and the doctors wanted to monitor him, at some point, he contracted Covid in their care. Though he made a recovery, the doctors said that his lungs became compromised from the virus, which is where his breathing stopped. I got the call at 1am on a Weds, an hour before lunch, I remember so vividly. I had already requested the next week off to visit him in SF and was scheduled to leave the next day, then came the call. Rather seeing him at the nursing care, I found myself headed home to his funeral. This was the end of his story, but I’d like to share the beginning.
Benny Shew Chow, born Oct 6th, 1930 in Canton, China to a family of 5 siblings, being the youngest male in the family. Through the village matchmaker (yes like Mulan), Benny met his wife (my grandmother) Sue Won Chow and became married. Soon, they had my mom, who was also born in Canton. With the takeover of China by the communist red army of Mao ZeDong, my family left China to British ruled Hong Kong. Looking for a better life for his family, Benny left Hong Kong along with his wife and newborn baby to immigrate to America for more opportunities to bring his whole family for the American dream.
Benny left for America in 1951, first stopping in Thailand, then arriving in Boston, MA in an immigration center. He said that the center had no more than ten other Asian people, including him. Mostly Irish and other Europeans there. After a few months of staying there, he was allowed to leave, where he met with his father to work at a laundromat. They made the decision to move together to the West coast, where they established themselves in Salinas, CA where he worked as a store clerk and butcher in a grocery store chain. He told us a story of where our lives would have drastically changed.
During the winter, the owner of the grocery store chain invited the employees to Lake Tahoe as an employee trip. Benny chose not to go. The flight to Tahoe left from San Jose, where snow began to fall. Through visual impairment, the plane crashed into the side of the snowy mountains. He told us this story when we were younger, emphasizing if he were to go on that trip, I wouldn’t be born, nor my mother or their family would have been able to make it to America. However, because of that moment, Benny expedited his plans and used his entire savings to bring his family over to America.
For as long as I knew him, my grandfather was a simple and quiet man. Though my father and mother have both immigrated to America, my grandfather was the only one I knew who left his family back for a better opportunity, whereas my parents moved with other family members.
