Jash became part of our family when he first came to the United States as a foreign exchange student at St. Louis University High School.  You will understand what a wonderful young man he is when you know that he chose Jash as his American name because it stands for Joy*Anger*Sadness*Happiness.  We encouraged Jash to attend Rice University where our son, Frank, was in college so that he could spend his holidays with us and have maintained a close relationship ever since.  After a fabulous trip to China in 2007 where we met his family and another trip here in the U.S. with his parents, we have become close to the rest of his family as well and were delighted when Jash accepted a job in Texas after his graduation.

Although Jash is one of the most outgoing people that I have ever met, I have to confess that I was a little worried about him being all by himself in Dallas, and so I was excited when he called in January to tell us that he had a girlfriend.  It was the first girlfriend he had ever mentioned to us, so that we knew it must be serious.  The story of how Jash met Linda will tell you a lot about Jash’s very beautiful and very sweet mother, Shiring, who has never met a stranger and communicates with the utmost ease here in the US with only a few English words at her command.   Everyone who meets her loves her - so much so, that they go out of their way to help her.  She is so charming that when she goes shopping, shopkeepers often send her home with gifts.   Her most successful shopping expedition, however, was definitely last fall at a grocery store in Plano, Texas, where she fell into conversation with another woman that she had never met before.  As usual, the stranger immediately liked Jash’s mom and, taking a quick look at Jash, asked if he was single.  She informed Jash’s mom that she had the perfect girl for Jash, and the two ladies exchanged telephone numbers.  At his mother’s urging, Jash invited Linda to a party and then on a date, and by April they were married in a quiet civil ceremony which will be followed by a huge Chinese celebration next year in Jash’s hometown in southern China.

You can tell from the photographs that Jash’s new wife, Linda, is just as sweet as his mother, and I am happy to be able to report that they are already truly as close as mother and daughter.  When they are at home together, each tries to outdo the other in being helpful, and  when they go out in public, strangers assume that they are a mother-daughter team and that Jash is the son-in-law.  This is a couple who will have a long and happy life together.

Congratulations Jash and Linda!!