I, a retired ***, returned to my hometown to worship my ancestors, but I was spurned by my clansmen
I am a retired senior leader who returned to my hometown with a long-cherished wish to worship my ancestors and continue my family tree. This is my deep respect and gratitude to my ancestors.
The hometown is located in a remote mountain village, hundreds of kilometers away from the provincial capital. After a rough day, I finally arrived at my destination, and it was late in the evening. No one in the village came to receive me, and no one recognized me. I had to carry my luggage and walk along the familiar and unfamiliar dirt road to my ancestral house.
With a bouquet of flowers and a newly purchased family tree in hand, I arrived at my ancestral grave. The ancestral tomb stands on a hill behind the village, and the square tombstone made of bluestone is engraved with the names of the ancestors, the dates of birth and death, and some poems in their praise. There is an open space in front of the tomb dedicated to placing offerings and burning paper money.
I bowed to the ground three times and placed the flowers on the tombstone. After lighting the paper money, I quietly watched them float into the sky, silently reciting in my heart the admiration and prayer of our ancestors, hoping that they would bless us with peace and happiness.
Taking out the family history book, I turned to the last page, ready to fill in my name and the names of my children. However, when I saw those familiar and unfamiliar names, I suddenly felt a wave of panic in my heart. The names are arranged in chronological order, starting with great-grandfathers and ending with nephews and nieces, each with a parenthesis at the end of the name, detailing information about their occupation, address, marital status, and more.
I found that I knew almost nothing about these people except my parents and siblings. Their lives, their jobs, their marriages, their children, and even their joys and sorrows have nothing to do with me. There are even some people I can't even recall how they looked and how they sounded.
Trying to recall their faces and voices can only find blurs and gaps in their minds. I remember the happy times when I was a child in my hometown for the New Year, playing, having dinner, and chatting with them. We were intimate and laughing. But what about then?Later we seemed to become two parallel lines, never able to meet.
Looking back on his past, he was smart and studious since he was a child, and he was admitted to a university in the provincial capital, and stayed there to work after graduation. Enter the ** organ, promote all the way from the grassroots level, and finally become a powerful **. Outstanding performance at work, appreciated by superiors and respected by colleagues. Got married, had children, and lived a prosperous and stable life. I married a beautiful and virtuous wife, who was not only my college classmate, but also my colleague. We love each other and build a warm family together. Having a smart and lovely son is our pride and expectation. Live in a spacious and comfortable apartment with a luxury car. I often go out to travel, shop, and enjoy the prosperity and convenience of the city.
I thought I had achieved great success and lived a very happy life.
In the process of all this, I gradually forgot my roots. He rarely goes back to his hometown to visit his parents and relatives, and rarely calls or writes to them. Whenever they invited me back for the Chinese New Year or to attend an event, I always declined on the pretext that I was busy with work. I always felt that I had limited time and couldn't handle these trivial tasks.
I thought they would understand the pressure I was facing and would be proud and happy about my accomplishments. I think they will be like me, pursuing a better life and not being satisfied with the current state. I thought they would be like me, seeing their hometown as a distant and strange place, no longer nostalgic and nostalgic.
Until one day, I received a ** telling me that my father had passed away. It was a cold winter morning, and I was just getting up to go to work when my phone rang suddenly. When I saw that it was the number from my hometown, I felt a little uneasy. I connected the ** and heard a burst of crying. It was my eldest brother, and he told me that my father had a heart attack last night and was irreversible when he arrived at the hospital.
At that time, I was already a middle-aged man in his fifties, and my father was in his eighties. He grew old, fell ill, and eventually died. And I didn't even stay with him, I couldn't give him one last hug, a goodbye.
When I hurried back to my hometown to attend my father's funeral, I realized how lonely and desolate I was. I was shocked by the indifference and rejection of my people. They ignored and disdained me, and some even called me an outsider.
Do you still have the face to come back?"A middle-aged man said coldly, "You have ignored it for so many years, what's the point of coming back now?"”
You think you can't live with money, right?"An elderly woman mockingly said, "Do you know how much your father misses you and worries about you?"Every time he receives a letter from you or **, he is very happy. Do you know that he trembles with anger when he hears people say bad things about you?Do you know how much he paid and endured for you?”
Are you still worthy to be called our relative?You don't deserve it at all!"A young girl said angrily, "You don't care about us, you don't give us any help, you have no respect for us." You will only look down on us, laugh at us, and bully us. You are simply a selfish and unconscionable person!”
These words are like sharp knives, straight to the atrium of **. I can't refute it, and I can't explain it. I could only keep my head down and silently bear the pain in my heart.
It turned out that in their eyes, I was no longer part of my family. They thought I was ungrateful, unfilial, uncaring and unhelpful. They are jealous of my wealth and glory, and they hate my coldness. They felt that my return was an insult and ridicule to them.
I tried to explain, I tried to apologize, I tried to find a settlement. However, they didn't want to listen to me at all, and they didn't want to give me a chance. They treated me like a stranger, an enemy, a sinner.
Later, I learned that there are three main reasons for all this:
First of all, I have been working in the field for a long time, and I have lost contact and affection with my people. I didn't participate in their lives, I didn't share their laughter and tears, I didn't show family and friendship. They felt that I had alienated them and treated them as strangers.
Secondly, I did not seek the benefit of my people in my work, and I did not exert my influence. I failed to provide them with job opportunities, to help them solve their problems, and to bring them substantial benefits. They felt that I was selfish and put my personal interests first.
In the end, I failed to return to my hometown in time to participate in the festive or sad activities of my clansmen, and I failed to show my responsibility and obligation. I was unable to attend their wedding or funeral, and I was unable to send condolences or blessings. They felt that I was cold and unforgiving and ignored their existence.
These reasons make me deeply ashamed and remorseful. However, I personally have the principle of being a human being, and I cannot violate the rules to seek the personal interests of my clansmen. Still, I realized I had lost so much and missed out so much. I want to make amends, I want to reconnect with my people, I want to regain my roots. But it was already too late.
After retirement, he returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors and continue his family tree, but he could not heal the estrangement and indifference that had existed for many years. Only by truly caring for and helping the people can we win their respect and love. This is a lesson I learned from this experience, and one I would like to share with you.
Family affection is not innate, but needs to be cared for and maintained. Don't wait until you lose to regret it, and don't wait until you're old to look back. Please cherish every loved one around you and care for them with the most sincere love.
That's why I'm sharing this story. I hope that through this story, it can arouse your attention and gratitude for family affection, let you understand the preciousness and rarity of family affection, and inspire you to take action to care for and help your loved ones.
I understand that the story may not be perfect, and that some parts may not be well expressed. But I sincerely hope that you will enjoy it and get some inspiration and resonance from it.