Continue from A Fight against Poverty in Black and White
On June 6, 2003, I sent out a letter to place an ad on a Chinese newspaper to sell the restaurant. The newspaper published once a week. I enclosed a check to cover the ad for four weeks. I prayed, "Please let the advertisement draw serious buyers this time. Let us sell the restaurant and move into the next phase of our lives. Thank you." The ad appeared on the newspaper a week later (i.e. June 13).
On June 14, 2003, our family went to eat dim sum to celebrate Father's Day. (On Sat. and Sun., we used to open at noon. After our sons went to college, we opened at 2 p.m. on Saturdays so that we could go to see them or pick them up. That was why we celebrate Father's Day on Saturday instead of Sunday.) My fortune cookie message for the day was -
The color red will be important to you.
When I read my journal, I found that I had actually glued the cookie insert onto the page of that date. At the end of the entry, I wrote - What does my fortune cookie message mean?
Ten days later (June 24), a couple came to look at the restaurant. The wife wore red. Could they be the buyers? I wondered. From our conversation, I learned they had good white-collar jobs. They wanted to buy a restaurant as an investment for they had relatives who were experienced in the restaurant business. There were others that showed an interest in our restaurant. At night, sometimes I saw a red car parked a distance away watching how our business was. Occasionally, I also saw a green car with someone inside watching us for hours.
Soon summer was over, and there was still no buyer.
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One afternoon, Nancy (not the real name) walked in.
Nancy had been our customer since we opened. She usually ordered carryout after the lunch rush hours were over. One day, I took the initiative of talking to her. She said she ate Chinese food once every few weeks; when she did, she always ordered from us. In time, we talked some more whenever she came. She told me she read palms and gave tea-leaf reading at night. Gradually, I told her that our business was slow, and I really wanted to sell the restaurant. She went out of her way to buy some items that symbolized prosperity. She gave them to me, and refused to accept any money. One afternoon, she performed a ritual outside of the restaurant hoping to help us to have more business. We had good business that night, but it did not continue. She always paid for her food, and never accepted any money from me. I was very grateful for her pure intention of helping me.
Nancy said she came to talk to me. She said, "I know you have been trying to sell the restaurant. I am supposed to tell you that there was a man in your family that does not want to sell the business. It may be your son or your husband. You can only sell the restaurant when the two of you have the same determination of selling the restaurant." Then she left.
Coincidentally, Joan (not her real name), another customer who had become a good friend of mine, came at night. She was in her 70 s. She and her husband lived in a house near our restaurant. They loved our food. Her husband passed away a couple of years ago. She believed in angels and the afterlife. She liked to dine in. When I was not busy, sometimes she stayed for hours to talk to me.
That night Joan said, "I know you want to sell the restaurant. I have to tell you this story. My mother-in-law died a few years ago. One of the assets she left behind was a vacation home. She left it to her grandchildren, i.e. my children. In other words, it was for them to decide if they wanted to keep it or sell it." From our conversation, I knew Joan's children were doing well, and some might have their own vacation homes. My friend continued, "After a discussion, they decided to sell the property and split the money. Many came to look at the property, but it remained unsold after many months. Other vacation homes in that area were easily sold within a short period of time. One of my daughters went to see a medium. She learned a couple of her siblings did not really want to sell the vacation home, a place they visited often and had much fun when they were small. My sons and daughters sat down and talked again. Together, they set an intention to sell the vacation home. Within a few days, it was sold. You have to talk to your husband for he may not want to sell the restaurant. I know I will miss seeing you..."
After she left, I knew it was not an accident that I heard the same message from two friends on the same day. The Divine had sent them in to deliver the message that answered my prayer as why I could not sell the restaurant.
After the Dec. 2001 reading, I told my husband that the Divine would help us to sell the restaurant. I saw the light in his eyes dimmed. It bothered me a lot. Part of me had lots of compassion for him, yet part of me knew we had to sell the restaurant. As a result, I sent the Divine contradicting messages when I prayed for the future. (Re Do you really mean what you pray for? ) In 2002, I had talked to my husband several times about the situations we were in before I placed ads on the weekly Chinese newspaper to sell the restaurant. My husband never voiced his opposition. I thought he understood we had to do it even though he might not want to sell the restaurant.
That night I realized it was true that my husband did not want to sell the restaurant. For instance, the people who called about the restaurant were Chinese, but my husband always asked me to answer their calls saying he did not know what to say. I understood I must talk to my husband again.
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The next day, I told my husband about what happened the day before. He said he had never stopped me from placing ads on the newspaper. I said, "Yes, you do not stop me, but in your heart you really do not want to sell the restaurant. Can you say it is not true?" He was silent.
As his wife, I understood he was afraid others would judge him after we sold the restaurant. On a few occasions, he had said he did not want to work for others anymore. He used to take pride in his work. Most of his former employers appreciated him and respected him. Everybody reacted to adversity differently. It was easy for us to think (or judge) how one should deal with their situations, but we had to understand we were not them. ***
***Please do not think I am any different from most of you. In my own relationships, I had been sad and angry. I had judged and wondered why he did not see what I saw. However, at the end, I found this to be true.
When we look at others with love and compassion, we are looking at none other than our own selves with love and compassion.I talked about the situations we were in. At the end of our talk, my husband finally realized it was time to let go of the restaurant. I placed another ad on the newspaper some time in Sept.
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One day, a woman called about the restaurant. It seemed she had come to our restaurant before. She asked many questions as if she was ready to make an offer.
On Oct. 11, I was reading by the table near the window. It was a Saturday. Orders normally came in the late afternoon. From the corner of my eyes, I kept seeing a seagull or two flew close to the window. I was into reading the book, and I did not look outside. The seagulls kept flying within my view. I found it strange. I finally stood up and looked outside. In the parking lot, a large group of seagulls, big and small, were flying in circles. As I watched, they put on a spectacular show right in front of me. I stood there in awe. After quite a while, all of them flew away. All these years, I had never seen that in front of our restaurant. I bowed and thanked the angels and the Loving Divine.
On Oct. 13, two men came. One wore a red T-shirt. There was a big red van, and a woman was inside watching us. Later, the man and a woman came in a few more time. They were actually the same couple that came in June. (I was not good in remembering faces.) The woman liked to wear red. There was another couple who showed an interest in the restaurant. Since the potential buyers were watching us, the woman who liked to wear red came in to make an offer. Near the end of the year, the couple put a down payment saying they needed some time to get the rest of the money. We sold the restaurant to them in Feb. of 2014.
Here is one final story about fortune cookie insert.
In Dec. 2003, our family went to eat dim sum. My fortune cookie message was -
Get off to a new start, come out of your shell.
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I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you A Joyful, Prosperous New Year!
Love and blessings,
Q of D
P.S. Some days before Christmas, my husband changed his mind. We went to our younger son's house, and had a merry Christmas. (Re Compassion, allow others to be, and more **) **When I edited another post, another post had accidentally replaced this post. I tried to retrieve this post to no avail, i.e. this post was gone.
