Reggie and Robert cut the cake in 1984 (top) and 2024 (bottom)
I rarely write about anything personal, but today I’d like to share the personal highlight of my year: My husband, Robert, and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary!
It was a beautiful gathering of family and friends. We had a Jubilee Mass, at which we renewed our vows, followed by a reception. Several people gave toasts. I want to share one special toast by Anni Zhang, whom we rescued from China in 2013 as a 10-year old girl and raised as our own daughter. More on that below.
Anni and her sister Rita flew across the country for our anniversary, and Anni delivered a beautiful tribute speech, thanking us for all we did for her and for her sister. (Text continues below the photo.)
Background
Anni and her older sister, Rita, are the daughters of brave Chinese dissident, Zhang Lin, jailed five times and tortured repeatedly for his pro-democracy activism. When the authorities could not stop Zhang Lin from speaking out, they kidnapped Anni from her 4th grade classroom, detained her overnight, would not let her attend school, and put her and her father under house arrest. At age 10, Anni became famous as “China’s youngest prisoner of conscience.”
With the help of several brave Chinese activists (several of whom were detained and tortured for helping Anni and Rita escape China), as well as assistance from members of the U.S. government, we were able to get Anni and Rita out of China and took them into our own home. We raised Anni for eight years as our own daughter. (Since Rita was already 19 when she arrived, she only stayed with us about two years.)
When Anni first arrived in the U.S., she spoke no English, so we started her on piano lessons, with a Mandarin speaking teacher. Within three years, she won a competition to play in Carnegie Hall. Her brilliant musical talent hints at the beauty, intelligence and love that are being lost every day with the sex-selective abortion and abandonment of baby girls in China. Our “Save a Girl” Campaign in China saved Anni and her sister!
Here are a couple of articles about Anni:
Top Campaigner Against Sex-Selective Abortion in China Takes in Two Young Girls
https://www.lifenews.com/2014/12/15/top-campaigner-against-sex-selection-abortion-in-china-takes-in-two-young-girls/
The Infinite Value of Every Life (by Eric Metaxas)
https://breakpoint.org/the-infinite-value-of-every-life/
Finally, congratulations are due to Anni. She was recently accepted at her first choice college, which is one of the top 10 universities in the world. To protect her privacy, I won’t disclose where she is going to school, but I will say that she is extremely happy there. Given that she came from China speaking no English, it is an impressive achievement to have been accepted at this extremely competitive university.
Congratulations, Anni!
You never cease to amaze us!
