No Use To Run

We had 5 alarms today - one even after supper when 2 pursuit planes came tearing over the mountains + landed here - they took off again in about 1/2 hr - plenty fast.  Are getting our trunks off but now everyone says the Japs have been pushed back on 3 roads and there is no use to run.  - Annette, May 1943

 

A five alarm day!  For every alarm, they had to drop what they were doing, run to the cave near their house with kids in tow, and wait until the all clear signal.  That is a lot of running!  They watched the planes land and take off - truly on the front lines of a WWII battle.  How exciting - and terrifying!

Annette and Clary sent their trunks ahead to Wahnsien, and they planned to follow on foot a few days later.  Now, they received word that the roads were blocked and there was nowhere to go.  All that work and preparation - now what?  Do you trust what 'everyone' says?  What if it was just a rumor?  Maybe the roads were really clear.  Maybe their belongings were on their way.  Maybe everything was going to be ok.  Or maybe not.

What do you do when faced with an impossible choice?  Stay with the familiar, or head out into the unknown?  Neither option was safe for Annette, but she had a family to protect.  Next week, we'll find out what happened. 

A Couple Pictures

The pictures we took Sunday of Bug turned out very well.  I wrote to Mother so we sent along a couple pictures.  Had alarms tonite - we even took Bug down to the dung for his first bit of powing.  Annette, October 1941

 

This project had a big weekend!  First, my brilliant fiancé, who spent several years working in China, helped decipher several of Annette's interpretations of Chinese words and phrases.  She mentions the 'dung' by their house several times, which is her interpretation of the Chinese word for cave or hole - 洞.  She always talks about 'powing' back and forth, which means run - 跑.  It was so much fun to sort through some of her words!

Also this weekend, I visited my sister and her family.  She had a few boxes of photos from my Dad that we were going to look through.  While digging through yearbooks and newspaper clippings, we discovered photos from my Grandmother's time in China!  

In this entry, Annette was excited to send home pictures of Bug.  Guess what I found?!

I can't wait to sort through all these photos - more to come!  Enjoy!