When People Are Alive They Love, When

Our Words Had To Be Circumspect. We Could Not Write Anything Too Negative About Our Circumstances. This Was Tricky, Since The Very Form Of A Married Woman's Letter Needed To Include The Usual Complaints -- That We Were Pathetic, Powerless, Worked To The Bone, Homesick, And Sad. We Were Supposed To Speak Directly About Our Feelings Without Appearing Ungrateful, No-account, Or Unfilial.

Having A Baby Is Painful In Order To Show How Serious A Thing Life Is.

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.

Model Communes Are The Ones Where The Leaders Lie The Best And The Biggest.

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.