Day 8 of Bloganuary asked the question, “How far back in your family tree can you go?“

A few years ago, I tried to research my lineage. I sent a sample of my DNA for analysis while tried to use free resources to trace my family tree.

Unfortunately, I got nowhere. I think it might be because I’m a first-generation immigrant to the US, therefore, my genealogy record would be located in China.

I also tried asking my mom but she wouldn’t share either. I don’t know why. Maybe she doesn’t know much. Maybe it’s something else.

I also tried to ask my paternal grandmother when she was around but she was reluctant to tell me even the name of her mother and even her grandmother like their names were cursed. My grandmother didn’t even know the year she was born other than some time in the 1940’s. Her birth year and date was whatever date and year that was printed on her documents.

It turned out there were a quite a bit of falsified birth records in China because some parents either wanted their children to begin their schooling early or already planning their children’s early retirement. I’ve also come to find out that most of the birth records from the 1940’s was destroyed during the revolution. So that doesn’t help either and neither is having one of the common last names in the Chinese language.

After exhausting my research, I’ve come to accept that I can’t get past my grandparents’ generation due to missing birth records and reluctancy to share information.

Day 9 of Bloganuary asked, “What is the most memorable gift you have received?”

If have to pinpoint a memorable gift among the plethora of gifts I’ve received over the years, I will have to say the memorable gift is the most recent gift I’ve gotten, which is an air hockey game.

I received this gift at my work’s Christmas party as part of a white elephant gift exchange. The rule of the game was to exchange my gift for another gift, open it to reveal the gift, wait for others to open their gift before deciding whether to keep the gift or trade another person for his/her gift.

I was the first person to go since the group decided on going Z-A. My last name starts with a Z, so naturally, I’m first and with the variety of gifts to choose from, I chose the largest gift on the table. Hurriedly, I ripped open the package like a lion ferociously devouring its prey.

When I saw the air hockey game, I knew I wanted to keep it. It was the game I wanted to play as a kid but no one wanted to play with me. It’s still the game I want to play as an adult and though I know there’s no one in the household willing to play the game with me, I still want it because maybe I can play by myself.