The most fragile people in all societies are the very young and the elderly populations. Both groups are very valuable. Because those of us who are old have wisdom and much experience, we deserve your respect. The very young need to be nurtured and loved, because they represent our future. The circle of life moves onward, around and around. The young children become youth, and then adults, and finally old. As grandparents we rejoice in our new grandchildren. We often have a very special relationship with our grandchildren. Personally, I have eight grandchildren: six girls and two boys. I have great love for all of them. Even in the US, I only see them three or four times a year for a few days because of the great distances between us. Here in China, I miss my grandchildren in the US and they miss me.
Sometimes I can advise my three children on reasonable ways to raise their own children. I know some of the mistakes which I might have made in raising my own children, and can encourage my children not to make the same mistakes. When I visit the three families, I can be friends, caretakers, and special guides for my grandchildren. I can read to them, take them to parks, go with them to visit their schools, have picnics with them, and enjoy their company. Also, they can enjoy my company.
Because I enjoy being a grandfather when I am in the US with my own grandchildren, I can be a good grandfather to children and young people whom I met in China. When I took the "Three Gorges" river tour on the Yangste River early in my stay in China, I was often surrounded by children eight to twelve years old, and sometimes also by teenagers. Many times we couldn't speak together much because of their limited English and my total lack of Chinese.
Still, we had nice times together. Mothers would often bring their children to meet me and say a few words in English to me. Sometimes children or even teenagers would simply sit with me for long periods with very little spoken language.
As I am giving English lessons to very small children, elementary students, and teenagers in various situations in China, I find that I am very popular with many of them because of my friendly contact with them and creative teaching. I am well known at the campuses where I teach in the university. I am often well regarded as a sort of grandfather figure in their lives. My life has always included a very big love for children and youth. Children and youth in China seem always to return the affection, love, and respect for me as an older person. This is as it should be, and I hope that many children and young people and their grandparents in China have similar experiences as I have had.