You Walked With Me as I Grew Up; Now I'll Walk With You as You Grow
In 1998, Mum sent me to Professor Kang's home to learn English. To keep me company, she became the oldest student in the class;
In 2022, I joined Gaoshan Academy. Science reawakened my curiosity, and with it came a rethinking of every aspect of life;
In 2024, after much persuading on my part, Mum became my Gaoshan "junior schoolmate" — and once again she was the oldest student in the class. And so we set off on a journey to explore the world through the eyes of science. People always say the parent-child relationship is "you walk with me as I grow up, and I walk with you as you grow old" — I profoundly disagree.
At one end of time lies the past.
It was you who fed your youth to me,
who shielded me with your experience and your arms,
so that fragile little me could form a safe connection with the world;
At the other end of time lies the future.
When the time is right, I will take your hand and extend the arc of your growth;
let you see, standing on your shoulders,
the view I have seen; and become the bridge between you and the future. Life is a journey through changing scenery, and its destination is a richer self at life's end. It's true that our perceptions, preferences and tastes are largely set in our youth, and in old age we are all, more or less, trapped in times gone by. But the difference between lives lies precisely in that "more or less." Fast or slow, as long as the direction is right, just keep walking. Ageing begins with refusing new things. Admittedly, when someone's strength and memory visibly decline, finding a sense of meaning and reward in "the present" becomes hard, and "the past" inevitably becomes the safe zone they retreat into. But children can become their parents' "second-stage rocket." When the engine between parent and child switches over — from "parents leading the child" to "the child taking the parents along" — where exactly should we take our parents? Towards an old age of being ever more needed, looked after and fussed over? Or towards a wider world, a more independent soul, a more complete self? Mum, you really are brave. In a place where you knew no one and nothing, you boldly and without a worry followed me into so many things you'd never done before……
Cycling through German streets and along Dutch waterways, carefree even in pouring rain.
Taking an overnight train together, sprinting through stations, living European life as fully as we could.
Wandering through one unfamiliar street after another.
Lying flat on a sofa together, utterly exhausted (but this was no ordinary sofa — this was the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, where Einstein shared his theory of relativity!)
Hearing a concert at the Berlin Philharmonie.
Feasting at a 400-year-old pork-knuckle restaurant in Germany, sitting by the fireplace where Napoleon once sat.
Taking in, carefully, the essence of human civilisation and the treasures of art in every museum
Eating green peppers together on a modern Dutch farm, letting our inner child out.
Picking up the hobby of your youth again — collecting vinyl records
Some surprises I never saw coming……
You learned to ride a scooter, and you're a total natural!
You dusted off your table-tennis skills from 20 years ago and took on Dutch players you couldn't even talk to!
In class, you studied super seriously and took lots of notes.
Bravely asked lots of good questions
And as teammates, we even won the group competition together✌️
What made me happiest through all of this was introducing my dearest, dearest, dearest friends to Mum — and seeing you all become friends too. No one is a label for anyone else; we are simply bridges to one another.
Friendship is an important part of life. These role models of mine, these lovely people who have encouraged me, inspired me, comforted me and helped me, are a driving force in my growth and one of my sources of joy. In the past, I didn't know how to show the person I love most this part of my life, so full of vitality and energy; now that piece of the puzzle has finally fallen into place. All in all, Ms. Liao, I'm so glad to be your classmate again! Let me give you a passage from The Way of Reading: A better "us" — of sounder mind and fuller understanding — is waiting up ahead. That is what "we" deserve, what is meant to be, what is destined.
By one path or another, "we" will surely find a way to get there.