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Identity Portfolio
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Birth of a child during the Revolution“It’s okay, just keep calm, it’s gonna be alright,” I whispered to her. The
siren on the ambulance blared, as Bights occurred outside. The siren was
drowned out by the screaming
crowds. I glanced out the
window and saw groups of
people being herded together
and whipped by the red guards.
I saw that some had been placed
on chairs with dunce hats and
wore demeaning signs as their
hope drained slowly away. The day had started out as a normal day for so
many, but now it transformed into a horriBic situation.
I was in HuaDong hospital along with my wife. She was going to give
birth to our daughter; I was going to be a father! We walked through the
hallway as doctors, nurses and visitors scurried like mice to their destinations.
I heard moans of pain everywhere as we were escorted into our rooms. Fright
overwhelmed us as we realized the Bight was just outside the doors.
As we arrived, our roommate, who was also a pregnant woman, was
wheeled in to the operating room.
In the midst of her operation, a loudspeaker screamed, “Everyone inside
working, come out and Bight!”
Everyone that was working inside dropped his or her equipment, and
responded to the call of ‘duty’ to join into the conBlict raging outside. We
waited as the shouts and the sound of Bighting grew louder and louder then
slowly quieted down. One by one, the workers returned to their jobs. When
the doctors and nurses Binally went back to the operating room, I saw a great
amount of commotion. I heard the nurses gasp, and saw the doctors come out
of the room with frowns, for they had just found the baby dead.
“Get me out of here, I’m scared,” she cried repeatedly. I could see fear in
her eyes; she thought that the same situation would happen again.
“It’s ok let’s just stay here for now. Let me think of something” I tried to
comfort her. “Yes! My cousin works at Zhongzhan Hospital, which has fewer
conBlicts. Let’s ask him for help.”
I rapidly ran to a telephone and called my cousin who agreed to arrange
a transfer immediately. We waited in anticipation as time ticked by. Finally an
ambulance with a distinctive Zhongshan Hospital sign arrived and my cousin
and two paramedics leaped out of it.
“Here, here,” I waved to them excitedly as I quickly pushed my wife’s
wheelchair over the ramp to the ambulance.
The ambulance lurched forward as we hit a speed bump. My wife
suddenly started screaming. “I can feel the baby coming, are we almost there?
I don’t think I can take this for much longer.” My face drained of color as I saw
the pain and panic on her face.
Suddenly, demonstrators appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the
vehicle. They then started circling us as they shouted for us to join the
demonstration. I stuck my head out of the window: “Please let us go to the
hospital, my wife is going to give birth to our baby soon!” On the other side of
the ambulance, a persistent demonstrator knocked on the window until we
were forced to lower it to let him shove in a red book of Chairman Mao’s
sayings. After continuous begging they Binally decided to continue their
campaign somewhere else and leave us alone.
Time seemed to stretch out as my heart pounded against my chest. “Are
we really going to make it? Is there anyway we can make it in time? Are we
going to have to give birth on the ambulance?” Sweat dripped down my face as
I despaired. I glanced outside as I hoped to release some stress. Dark
glooming Blags with a red star in the middle Blashed past us as the Red Guards
humiliated and tortured the Conservatives. I looked up, but there was blood
everywhere. I was hoping to wash the image from my memory, but I worried
that their screams would echo in my ears forever. Suddenly a familiar red
building appeared. It was the same building we had always passed when we
visited my cousin! Relief washed all over me as I began to settle down in my
seat. We were Binally going to make it in time.
As soon as we arrived
the paramedics rushed my wife
inside the operating room. I did
not know when the door of
operating room opened and the
doctor came out. I only knew I
heard the best thing in the
world:
“Congratulations! You now have a beautiful daughter. They are both well and
you can see them soon.”
Tears started rolling down my cheeks and my heart was Billed with
relief and jubilance as I leaped forward to my new daughter.
Now looking back on that day, I see that I was one of the lucky ones. On
that very day other babies had died from the Cultural Revolution while we
made it. As I look back I can still remember the fear from long ago.
Epilogue:
He now lives with his wife and his other daughter in Shanghai. He also
has a granddaughter and 3 cats that live with him. Now he swims in the local pool and exercises daily. He retired from being a university party secretary 10 years ago. Also he now lives a peaceful life in a huge house. He enjoys telling
tales to his grandchildren and reading history and political books. Everyday he tries to be optimistic and positive, even though he experienced unspeakable horrors during the Cultural Revolution.
Q&A
Which side did you Bight for?He was on the side of the Conservatives
How old were you and where did you work?
He was in his thirtyfour when it happened and he was a teacher in the jiaotong university.
Do you have any unforgettable moments from then?Yes. he has a moment about when my wife had to give birth.
How did you feel during that?He felt scared and excited at Birst. He then felt panic and fear later.
What Happened to you during it?There was a person that died during it and we got scared so we tried to transfer.
Describe your journey.I called my cousin and asked him to call for an ambulance. After that he sent one and we were escorted inside. They drove on for a long time(it seemed at least). Started getting worried when we were stopped by some demonstrators. after a while they let us go and we just made it to the hospital.
Can you tell me more about the Ambulance ride?We had been on it for about 20 minutes when suddenly demonstrators appeared out of nowhere. They surrounded the ambulance and shouted slogans from the red book. Someone managed to stick their hand through the window and shove a Red book in. After a while they let us go but then I was really worried because I didn’t know where we were. Then I saw a red building that I recognized as a building that was near the hospital. After that we arrived in a few minutes and she was immediately taken to the operation room.
What did you sense? like touch smell hear see?I saw Red guards torturing the Conservatives and that they were herded up all together and sat on chairs. They also wore signs and coned hats. When we were waiting for the ambulance I smelled blood and heard screaming and the machines. During the ride I heard the machines, the paramedics talking, the siren and the screams from the crowds.
ReBlection:I think that this project has helped me in many ways to learn about my family history. This also helped me Bind out my families Identity. I think that doing a project similar to this is helpful because you will be able to learn about your family and at the same time improve your writing skills. I enjoyed Binding information about our family members and the event. That part was enjoyable because I discovered information about my family and the event that I was never aware of. Some of challenging parts was that there were times when I thought I had enough information but when I realized that I didn’t I have enough information. Also another part was that since, it happened a long time ago they couldn’t really remember all the details and had to improvise with the member’s voice. I think that I have improved as a writer because I can now write sentences more Bluently. I would give future students to get tons and tons of information and show not tell.