Who’d you wanna meet, dead or alive?

You’ve probably been asked the question of who you’d want to meet (dead or alive) in some sort of ice-breaker activity.

Once, I was asked this question in a large group setting and everybody shared one by one as we went around the circle. I was near the end and so I had a lot of time to truly think about this.

My answer is my paternal great grandfather.

I’d want to meet him because I know very little of him and in my adulthood, can truly understand how he single-handedly altered the trajectory of the Mak family.

I imagine him to be a young man in China… looking for a way to carve out a better life. As is the case with so many immigrants leaving their home for distant lands. And so he sailed to the United States to work on the railroad alongside 12000-15000 Chinese migrants between 1865-1869.

It’s undisputed that the working conditions my great grandfather endured alongside other Chinese migrants were cruel, dangerous, and inhumane. What little money he made, he sent back home to his little family back in China.

And though he survived, he would’ve faced racism like I could never imagine as the government launched the Chinese Exclusion Act (conveniently after the railroads were completed). This stoked hatred of the Chinese migrants and fear that the Chinese carried disease and were unsurely characters.

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme with what we’re witnessing today.

Post-railroad, my great grandfather opened a laundromat. This stereotype of the Chinese and laundromats was a direct result of the Exclusion Act. The only jobs available for Chinese men were the ones deemed too feminine for other men (laundry, cooking, cleaning).

Long story short, he worked till death (his body is still in Philadelphia). Sending money home for his family back in China that he never ever saw again. What was left when he died, the Mak family used to leave mainland China and to level up in Hong Kong. Suddenly, my grandfather had the means to put his 5 kids through the best schools, and all kids completed their post-secondary in Canada.

And because my dad immigrated to Canada for work after university and to start his family here, I was granted even more privileges and access.

My great grandfather was the first domino to fall and that has rippled through the generations. He changed the trajectory and honestly, that’s all immigrants want to do. Change the trajectory of their family to a better life.

I digress…

In a hypothetical world where a person could come back to life for 24 hours, I would choose to meet my great grandfather so he could look into the face of his great grand daughter and see for himself what his sacrifice meant and resulted in. I’d want to learn everything about his life… the challenges, the heartbreak, the celebrations, the way it was. And I’d be so eager to tell him of how I got to choose my path, regale him with stories of my adventures all around the world, and show him videos and photos that mean something to me.

But more than that, I’d fly back with him to China so he could rest his soul back in his home by his family and his people.

My utmost gratitude for everything my great grandfather did in immigrating and working so hard as so many immigrants do (documented or otherwise).

It truly did change everything.