When Time Rolls Back

I do not even know how I start this story. It seems already too far away since it unfolded right after I was born. That was back to 43 years ago when Great Culture Revolution was just around the corner. My father had been away for his work several months a time. My mom had to take care of me and my brother alone after the heavy duty as a high school principal. She had to find a nanny to take care of me. However my parents could not afford a full time nanny alone. It happened to have another baby boy less than a month older than me. His family lived right in an apartment building next to ours. His father worked with my dad in the same department. During that time, each company provided housing for its employees. Living condition was very basic. One apartment unit with 3 to 4 rooms was often shared by two or even three families with only one kitchen and one bathroom.

That boy was Tang Man. My parents and his came up with an idea to share a full time live-in nanny to take care of both. I think that we were about 4-5 month old when our nanny came to our life. Her family name was Yang. Our parents called her Yang Ma(Nanny Yang in Chinese). She was in her sixties and came from another part of the city. Until this day, I think of her often. When I was little, I always told my mom that I missed her when my mom gave me a warm bath in the winter. I do not remember much when she stayed with us since I was so little. But her love and affection instilled my little mind and becomes inerasable memory. For me, she was my grandma since my own grandma was not able to come since she was classified as "Landlord" and sent back to her countryside hometown. She had never a chance to see me grow up. I only saw her briefly but was not allowed to know she is my grandma when I was around 6.

After many years, our old neighbors still told the story of Man and me growing up from the same cradle. When we were old enough(I am not sure we were 2 or 3), we attended the same kindergarten of our dads' company. Every morning our parents sent us to the kindergarten on the bicycle and sometimes took term. When we were old enough again(maybe 5), we were allowed to go home on our own after the dinner in the kindergarten. It was 6-7 minutes walk. That freedom really excited us. We shared everything and halved our snacks every morning. I can not think that we ever fought.

We went on to go to the same class in the elementary school. I still remember the name of school - Red Flag Elementary School until his family moved to the another apartment area. He transferred to another school and so did I. We went to each other's home once a while after school or in weekend and sometimes stayed over night. We were always best friends because of that natural bond.

Now he settled in Singapore with beautiful wife Sarah and lovely son James. When he sent the last picture of us taken together, I realized that was the last time we saw each other in Wuhan. Unbelievably, it was 27 years ago right before his family moved to HongKong. I hope that we will see each other some day again.