Michael Wen's Family

Dad, mom, I, younger sister, younger brother. Pretty simple family isn't it? I am the one in the photo :) My dad looks stern on the outside but is a warm person on the inside. He has an expansive network of close-knit friends and associates because he is known to be a great friend, a friend who goes out of his way to help people. He looks upbeat on the surface but deep down he may not feel like that..

One day when I got back from school at night, starved, I contemplated the food on the table, thinking how my dad has worked hard to provide for this family. Without him, we'd have no clothes to wear, no food to eat, and no place to live. I wondered why I never thought that way in my childhood and never really bothered to thank him, but it's fine now. The Above And Beyond has managed to let me see the light, and I thank Him for that. Now not a day passes without my thanking him for everything he's done for us. He is among the people I am most grateful to.

My mom is a caring person. She is just like most other moms: warm, caring, and loving. She singlehandedly raised three children who are close in age. Isn't that amazing? It's such a HUGE feat that very, very few people (or moms in this case) are up to this Herculean task. She used to tell me many stories of her raising us, and one of them is that she needed to clean the house while pregnant with my brother. This both saddens and touches me. If I were old enough I would've helped her! Another story is that one day I got very sick at midnight and she walked me to a hospital. She put her hand over my face to prevent cold wind blowing on my face, and in return I sneezed on her hand. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have been where I am now. She's also one of the people I am most grateful to. In fact, I think what she's done for us is at a more challenging and exhausting level than my dad.

I truly, truly thank her for everything she's done for us.

My brother is a nice person. He is a little bit of an introvert, and he shares many nice character traits with me, including frugality, honesty, integrity, taking good care of his studies, and good temper (yeah I could go on bragging indirectly about myself but who cares). He will NEVER take advantage of other people unlike many others, and he has a good tolerance for people. His total honesty is truly admirable by today's standards. As a member in my family, he is almost perfect. One of the things we don't like much about him is that he loves to play video games so much that sometimes he stays up late at night until 4 or 5am. You may feel it's okay, but I am telling you it isn't. Staying up late inflicts more adverse health effects than smoking and drinking together. Anyway, he is a top Halo player and any challenge is welcome~~~

My sister, well, hm...one of the things that best characterize her is that she is very friendly to people. There are two sides to many of us, herself included, and I've seen them both. One is very angelic: caring, loving, and agreeable. We all love that side. The other side....well, they say "If it's not good, don't say it." So I am just gonna zip up here and move on. Anyway she has a good heart and that's all that matters.

We've had three dogs before, but they are all gone. Coincidentally we lost them all because they walked away, not passed away. I especially miss our third dog, Badoo, who was very smart, naughty, and close to us. My dad went jogging one day and found her in this small carton on which a label read, "I am housebroken. Please keep me." Since that day she became part of our family. She would follow us anywhere we went; I guess that's because she was once abandoned and feared it might happen again. I am sure most people who have had a dog know that it is heart-rending to lose him or her someday simply because age takes a deadly toll. I am sure that's also the reason why most people don't want to keep another dog after they lose the first one. The Above And Beyond has decreed that life be this way for every single creature in the universe: It has limits. Nothing is eternal, except maybe your reputation. So why not start focusing on building your reputation rather than your materials?

I say we should always live a day to its fullest and stop thinking about what life is about!