Our Story
“To love someone is to see a miracle invisible to others.”
– Francois Mauriac
Her Story
I had a hard time to start writing my story, so I asked my dearest bridesmaids to help me out. “Miriam Yeung (楊千嬅)” (a Hong Kong actress known with truthful characters) popped up among their responses. I think that’s the best “adjective” to describe me. I am someone who “fluctuates” all the time, always true to myself and to the people around me. “You are so happy sometimes, so angry sometimes, so excited sometimes, so cheerful sometimes, so silly sometimes.” I have to admit that I do not hide my emotion very well. Luckily, I am blessed with a wonderful family and friends, who tolerate my temper and remind me along the way.
I grew up in a loving family- I received the best attention, greatest care and selfless love from my parents. My mum devoted herself entirely to this family, to make all the amazing things happen. Because of her hard work and persistence, I was provided with the best living and study environment. Without her, I would never have the opportunity to study abroad. My dad is the mysterious one at home. He seldom talks, but when he does, every single word is very precise. I remembered when I first learnt driving I asked him for tips. He gave me 4 words- “膽大心細” (to perform confidently with caution). Even though he does not talk much, he coaches me by his examples. I learnt from him how to respect family and friends, take responsibility and admit mistake. I want to thank my parents for giving me the greatest present- my brother, Brian. I confess that I am not a very good sister. I was a selfish and immature sister with deep jealousy. He helped me reflect on how ugly I was. I thank him for giving me the chance now to be his good sister. Brian is now studying in Seattle, WA. Although we are physically 6-hour flight away from each other, we are a lot closer mentally now.
After Form 6 (grade 12), I continued my study in the US at Penn State University in September 2002. I graduated in December 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. Since middle school, I have always had strong interest in Accounting. With fate, I came across the “Your Master Plan” program offered by Ernst & Young at the career fair. I still remember my excitement and joy when I received the job offer from E&Y- I was employed (a huge relieve) and the firm was going to cover all the costs for my further education! In August 2006, I graduated with a Master of Science degree in Accounting from University of Notre Dame. Through this program, not only I received a job, a certificate, I also knew some life-long friends. Of course, free education comes with big commitment; I am committed to stay with Ernst & Young until September 2009.
I never thought that I would be a young bride. But after being taken care by Leo for almost five years now (six years by the time we get married), I’m ready to move on with him to the next level. People always ask, “why rush?”. I say, “why wait?”
His Story
My childhood was no different from other typical Hong Kong kids, except the fact that I didn’t live with my parents till Grade 7. My grandparents from my mom’s side took care of me when I was in kindergarten; while my grandparents and Aunt (my dad’s younger sister) from my dad’s side raised me during my first few years in elementary school. Afterwards, my family sent me to a boarding school for a couple of years before going to middle school. On top of it, my family ran a tourism-related business. With that being said, whenever it was a weekend or public holiday, they needed to work and I would pretty much be home alone. Believe it or not, I had never traveled with my family during summer or whichever vacations.
Despite the physical separation from my immediate family, I didn’t receive lack of attention. To make up all this, my parents tried their best to fulfill my wishes. They were extremely liberal to give me independence making my own decisions and doing whatever I want. From studying abroad to getting married, my family backed me up with their thorough support. I was so fortunate to grow up in such a loving and caring family.
Resultantly, the aforementioned *independence training* along with my high school journey did mold me into what I am now. With a decent academic result and active involvement in extracurricular activities, I became pretty egocentric and contemptuous of any authority. Being the lead double bass player in school orchestra, chairperson of some societies or later the school head prefect, I deemed myself so important that no one could afford to lose me. I used to be quite arrogant and didn’t know what “respect” meant. **Apologies to those whom I insulted before. =)
Nevertheless, God paved my path. After completing my high school in Hong Kong, I decided to pursue my college education in the US. Seriously, I intended to become a geneticist and that’s what made me go to Penn State for the biotechnology major. After having worked in a biology lab for 2 semesters, I discovered that my impatience prohibited me from being a researcher. Finally, I switched to the Information Technology major. Is that something I’m really interested in? Probably not. But at least it secured me with a satisfactory job. After completing my bachelor degree with Highest Distinction in 3 years (YEA!!), I pursued my master degree at Cornell.
During these few years in the US, I experienced a lot and my eyes were wide open. I found out how insignificance I was in contrast to this world and our God (in Chinese idiom: 天外有外, 人外有人). My arrogance diminished and I learned to respect. I remembered the other day on a bus ride with my younger sister during my sophomore year’s winter break, she said, “Why did your personality change a lot after going to the US? You seldom lose your temper now!” I nearly cried at that moment. I regretted to verbally hurt anyone because of my bad temper, and was glad that I was changed. God did pave my path. He did.
I am now living in the Washington DC area and pursuing my non-accounting career at a Big 4 public accounting firm. Year 2008 is my eighth year living in the States and is gonna be the most important year in my life. I will marry my beloved Elaine on December 27.
Our Story.....she said....
I knew Leo through a group of HK friends at Penn State, when I first entered college in September 2002. He used to be the coordinator of all the weekend dinners. Every Thursday, we would receive a message from him regarding the time and meeting place for the Friday’s dinner. Even though we met every weekend, I did not know him well. He was a senior while I was a freshman. We did not go to class together nor have any common topics. We only hanged out in a group. He seemed to be a big brother (and in fact, he is the big brother at home); and seemed to be a confident guy who knew everything. Two months later, he started to MSN me a lot. I got to know him more and I found him to be a humorous and smart guy. I saw him as a big brother, who would care about me and protect me.
One evening in November 2002, he expressed his feeling towards me. I was completely in shock. I definitely did not see that coming. For the whole evening, I was very upset and blamed myself for giving out any “wrong signals” (but I truly did not). Three months down the road, he hasn’t given up at all. It was a snowing day in February 2003. Although I did not have a strong feeling towards him, I thought I would give it a try.
Surprisingly, I was very comfortable around him and we got along very well. After dating for three months, I felt like I had known him for decades. His caring love touched my heart genuinely. My love for him has also been growing deeper and deeper everyday. Nevertheless, our relationship wasn’t the smoothest one. We were physically apart for quite a long time. When I was studying at Penn State, he went to Cornell for his graduate education. Later I went to Pittsburgh to start my career and studied at Notre Dame, while he got a job offer in Washington, DC. It was not easy to keep up the relationship. We would spend 8 hours in driving on the weekend just to see each other. Luckily, I successfully transferred to DC office in October 2006 and we finally terminated the “long-distance” relationship. We treasure our time together, we support each other, and we fill each other in for the weaknesses. We are better together.
Our Story.....he said....
Our love story was not as dramatic as Romeo & Juliet. I met Elaine in my 5th semester when she started at Penn State as a freshman. My first impression of her was made at a Hong Kong students’ dinner gathering in September 2002. She sounded to be a frank, calm girl and did not appear to be a cutie. She liked expressing her ideas upon any decision points, as well as scolding people for stupidity and wrongdoings. In overall, she was quite different from what my dream girl used to look like.
Nevertheless, I gradually discovered that she is a family oriented and positive-thinking girl. In contrast to me, Elaine is also an optimistic person, who seemed not having any worries. It’s something that I need to learn from her. Conversely, we are alike in the way that everything’s reflected on our face – excitement, anger, boredom, sadness and so forth. Well, we certainly have other similarities apart from that.
Speaking of how our relationship got started, our love didn’t spark until early 2003 (i.e., approximately 5 months after we’ve known each other). In particular, after lunch on February 19, 2003 (Wednesday), while walking Elaine to the classroom for her 1:40pm class, I handed her a token of love – a 100g Hershey© Special Dark Chocolate Bar. Without much expression, she smiled, thanked me, and went to class. Hmm, okay, so I decided to wait for her outside the classroom. I wandered and thought how I should tell her. Not to scare her off, my pledge had to be subtle, yet to the point. After a 30-minute wait, her class was finished and most importantly, she was stunned by my presence!! Apparently, both of us noticed that something might happen today. Despite a few minutes of silence while walking her to the swimming pool, I took the initiation and asked Elaine if our relationship could proceed to next stage. With her head nodded, our love journey began…
