This is a picture of my dad during my wedding in 2010. If you look at him, you'd think, "Oh, what a happy and nice man he is!" He was very nice, reserved, and calm. That's what I always think of him, until I am reminded of all things he did when he was young. I mean, he wasn't mean or violent or anything. He was... well, you can decide for yourself.
My dad told me he used to play outside alot, and sometimes things would get a little out of hand. One time he was playing javelin with his friends. I don't remember how they played with it, I guess they were just seeing who could throw it the farthest. The way he told me seems to me that kids would be on opposite sides, one would throw it towards the other, and then that other kid would pick it up and throw it back. Well, in this particular time the boy playing with my dad was standing a little too close to my dad, and my dad ended up throwing the javelin in his eye and busted his eye out. Dad swore to me that he told his friend to move back, but he refused. As my dad recalled, that night was the only time my grandfather beat him. My jaw just dropped the first time I heard about it. Dad told me after twenty years later the boy still wouldn't forgive him.
Then another time my dad and several other kids were playing near a river bank. I couldn't remember if they decided to go for a swim or part of the river bank broke off, and they were carried off by the current. Everyone knew how to swim, except one boy. After awhile of looking for him, Dad found him floating calmly on the river, dead. Everyone in the community were outraged at what had happened, especially since the kids knew that was a dangerous place to play.
When my dad mentioned these stories to me, it was clear that he was not proud of these moments. I think after what happened at the riverbank my dad started to change into his calm and cautious demeanor that he was later on in life.
Tom: Here the word " javelin" is different from the one used in modern sports, which was called "GA", in Chinese, a short wooden stick about 2 inches long, sharpened on both ends. When playing, you use a wooden pad hit the ends to make it bouncing up from the ground then use the pad to hit it as hard as you can to make far away from your home base, which is usually made of a couple bricks. Your opponent can either catch it or pick it up then throw it back to hit your home base. The game is very similar to baseball game in essence. The part that your opponent to catch the sharpened wood stick is much more dangerous than to catch a baseball though. I was not sure the stick hit right in the boy's eye or just somewhere very close to his eye. I saw your grandpa did spank your dad very hard though. Your grandpa said in hospital's ward right before he passed away that this was the only time he ever spanked his children due to that he was scared to death about this incidence then.
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