The podcast What You Don't Know (Lulu Wang) tells a story about a family who is faced with a tragic incident and they must decide whether they want to lie or tell the truth to a relative who is diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. Lula and her family work together to make Nanai’s last few months memorable and the outcome is amazing, but was it the right thing to do? 1. Did you agree with the family's choice to deceive Wang's grandmother? Yes I did agree with the family’s choice to deceive Wang’s grandmother for a multitude of reasons. In the text we are reminded plenty of times that Wang’s relatives are a traditional Chinese-American family, therefore they have strong beliefs in their Chinese culture. “My mom told me about an old Chinese belief called chongxi. Chong means to rinse out, and xi is joy. So chongxi is the belief that you can wash away a misfortune with joy”(Lula Wang). I feel that this Chinese belief is true, especially in the situation Wang and her family went through. Perhaps they had told Nanai the truth, maybe she would not have been blessed with another three years of life, maybe she would have passed away within the three months she was given. However, Nanai was granted another three years and throughout those three years she was full of joy and completely immersed in life itself. 2. When have you made an important choice to tell someone a difficult truth or you made an important choice to tell a lie that had a major impact on you and/or someone else? When I was younger I played softball all throughout my childhood up until 8th grade. By the time I could walk my dad had me out in the yard with a tiny pink glove and a squishy ball. As I got older he would take my little brother and I to Hopewell field to practice batting and fielding. We always had a blast and it was something I always looked forward to. My dad would always tell us stories about his baseball experiences; one time he was playing for three different leagues at the same time so baseball basically consumed his childhood. He was obsessed. My family and I would go to at least fifteen Phillies games every season; it was always a huge event and we went all out. I played for EBYA and when I got to middle school I joined the league there. I was always really good at softball, I almost always had an amazing play or hit every game. My dad was convinced that I’d play throughout high school and receive a scholarship to play in college, but that’s not what happened. When I went to highschool my life completely changed; I was so wrapped up in my friends and boys. It was a whole new world and I wanted to explore every bit of it. So when try-outs rolled around the corner I had to tell my dad that I didn’t want to play softball anymore. I was a total mess and I put it off for weeks. I didn’t want to break his heart, he had such high hopes for me. Finally, I broke the news to him and at first he was disappointed but over time he learned to respect my decision. This happened about six years ago and I still regret my decision to give up on softball; sometimes I catch myself thinking about what my life would be like right now if I would have stuck with it. We still go to Phillies games every year together and sometimes we’ll have a catch if we can find the time. So all in all my passion for softball wasn’t completely lost.
3 Comments
Shane Zandotti
2/12/2018 05:15:44 pm
Must have taken some real courage to admit to your dad about the tryouts but I can totally understand. Sometimes life just gets in the way of things, even if you really want to do them.
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Sabatino
2/14/2018 11:49:39 am
I appreciate the honesty provided in this post. It takes guts to reflect on a past decision and admit that maybe you made a mistake. Is this a topic you would want to explore even more in your memoir?
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2/21/2018 03:13:41 pm
I know exactly how your father felt when he was trying to get you to try outs. I had two gymnasts two swimmers and one diver. like you said between boys and friends I had no chance. I succeeded with one swimmer who actually swam for health reasons but achieved a full ride to UNCW. Do you play any ball now ?
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Brianna MageeI will use this blog to compose my thoughts and network with others. Archives
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