Hi Vince,
This virus crap still has me trapped in New York which is the last place I want to be right now. In fact I really thought that by now we’d be playing some tennis together every day and catching up on each other’s lives. Buy I guess mom wants you to forget about me. I suppose forgetting about me and all the stress my legal problems created fro her is a convenient way to deal with things if she found a new guy to take my place or if she’s being threatened again by the American government goons. Either way I can understand Vince, but it does not solve the problem of our family separation. You are my treasured and cherished son and from the day you were born, you were someone quite special. Let me explain…
First of all, you made sure we would never forget your arrival. You had mom in labor for 27 hours and just witnessing her agony made me thank God repeatedly for letting me be born a male! Vince, I have been stabbed, burned and even tortured (See https://afewthoughtswithbruce.wordpress.com/category/torture), but I never felt the prolonged pain of childbirth like mom did. When you finally decided to come out, I was the one who caught you as slowly came out half way, and then squirted out in a final burst that caught the doctor by surprise and he fumbled you like a slippery wet football. Fortunately, my reflexes were good enough to keep you from hitting the floor!
You then slowly opened just one eye and stared at my face and it was the first time we made eye contact, and I always wondered what was on your mind that day because even as I cut your umbilical cord and handed you over to mom, your one eye stayed glued on me, even as the nurses carried you away to bundle you up. But once you discovered mom’ s huge breats, you forgot all about me buddy!
But as you grew up, you were still quite special in almost everything you did and all the choices you made for yourself. Unlike most kids who try to hide their mistakes or things they broke, you had a very diplomatic way of dealing with it. You would come up to mom and me and put your palms out in front of you and say “I am very sorry” but you would never say for what until we asked you. Most of the time it would before something really minor like using a whole bottle of shampoo to make a super deluxe bubble bath, or putting a piece of tin foil into the microwave, or even stepping in dog poo.
It was impossible for us to ever really scold you for anything because you always knew on your own that you did something wrong. You were such a good kid, I sometimes wondered how you could possibly have my genes! But if you look at my childhood photos in our family photo albums, there cannot ever be any doubts.
Although mom and Emo loved to dress you in designer clothes as a little kid, you often tried to dress casual like me in jeans and a hoodie. When I first saw you in a tux for your first recital, I could not believe how handsome you were and after listening to you tap out a beautiful sonata on the baby grand, I was once again reminded how special and talented you were. Most kids hate music lessons and practicing, but you wanted to learn how to play every instrument, and by my last count, you had mastered seven! Buddy I cry when I think about how much of your life I missed exiled in China.
I tried to stay connected with you but I noticed that with each passing year mom was letting me speak with you less and less. I should have realized something was going on but I just figured as you grew older you had less time to talk on the phone, and more time to hang out with your pals, like every teenager.
Even from China, I was ha[[y you were still being special and when I bought you gifts, I always thought abought clothes or items that would make you stand out of the crowd like this goofy winter hat I sent you. I knew it would be warm enough to keep you toasty during the Canadian winter and surely none of your friends would have one like it! When you sent me this picture, I was so happy to see you actually had the nerve to wear it!
Buddy, I know more than a year went by with no contact from me, but you need to know that I was not in a position to contact anyone. I was jailed incommunicado in China without any charge for 485 days due to some corrupt U.S. officials: https://opnlttr.com/letter/us-embassy-ignored-military-vet-bruce-gorcyca...
As of today, you should have received 31 letters I sent you tour home on Kedleston and 5 that I sent to JMS and 2 that I sent to your University. Since I have not heard back from you, I am guessing you did not receive your mail, so I will continue with these public messages until I hear your voice again, no matter what that voice has to say to me. Please call me at 646-X34-5X17. Remember the first X is the month of your birth and the second X is the month of your brother’s birth.
Whether you want to connect with meornot, please remember that you are the fire that keeps my soul burning, and I live to see you happy and successful by your own standards, not mine nor anyone else’s. I love you buddy. - Appa
P.S. The government goons still locked me out of my email accounts and Skype as well. Please give a big hug to mom and Hominy for me and tell them I love and miss them, almost as much as you!
