My father grew up in a rural part of China with two siblings. My uncle was a genius and would get praised by my grandma all the time. Academically, my dad could not compete with his brother. He never liked school but he did love playing xiangqi. My great grandpa would always play with my dad and they would talk about life and school. Xiangqi took my dad's mind off of school and helped him forget about the constant competition between him and his brother. Other people within the community would always call my uncle the better of the two. Once my grandma, aunt, uncle, and dad received news that they getting their citizenship with the help of my grandpa, my father was happy. He thought that America was a new start. A place where he didn't get compared. But the thing that caused him pain was when his found out that his grandpa couldn't and wouldn't go. My great grandma became blind at a young age and my great grandpa had to take care of her. In addition to that, my great grandpa was getting old and sick. Someone who he spent his whole childhood with, playing a board game they both loved couldn't come with him. My dad would have no one to play chess with and he would be lonely. Coming to America, my dad had to leave his friends, pets, but mainly his grandpa. As my dad was ready to head towards America, my great grandpa stood by the door and handed my dad the chess pieces. It was his parting gift, and even though it wasn't much, my dad still takes care of it.

– Dagan Lin

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