Linsifu Got Married

Linsifu got married this afternoon and it was funny - like all Chinese weddings.  Lin had a beautiful new foreign hat he held on to all thru the ceremony.  Lo-yin had a lovely dress - too bad we just didn't have any pretty flowers.  Went to their feast after services - good food.  Japs + China fighting in Burma - Singapore still holding out.  - Annette, January 1942

I'm heading to a wedding this weekend, so I started thinking about what weddings would have been like for Frances and Annette.  Here, Annette writes about the wedding of one of the community's 'servants.'  The missionary group had cooks, housekeepers, drivers, and other workers periodically throughout their stay in China.  Annette wrote often about Linsifu (Lin was his name; 'sifu' was Annette's spelling of shi fu - 师傅 - meaning 'qualified worker').  Annette was teaching him English, and in turn, he kept her informed of all the gossip around the community.  He was a good student, and Annette seemed to enjoy their classes.

Think back to the weddings you have attended - what do you remember most?  The venue?  The dress?  The party?  For Annette, it was the clothes and the food - no surprise there!  She also participated in the festivities by creating the flower arrangements.  From this entry, it sounds like the crysanthemums didn't bloom as she had hoped. 

We get a wartime update as well.  They didn't have the luxury/curse of a 24-hour news cycle, so their updates came sporadically.  I can only guess that the updates were a big deal, since Annette always mentions when they receive news.  The war could be both all-consuming and background noise.  You never forget that it is happening, and still, daily life marches on. 

A wedding can be a joyful respite from a difficult world.  I tend to get bogged down by all the hurt and suffering in the world.  This weekend, I will step away from the news to celebrate LOVE.  I'm sure it will be a beautiful, memorable night.