(NOTE: This is copied from my Facebook post from earlier this month. I decided, before the month is over, to also include it in a blog post for those of you who are not on Facebook or didn’t see it there.)
(Scroll to the end for links to my previous 15 blog tributes to Joanna since her passing.)
It was 50 years ago this month – October 1972 – that the Chinese Student Assn. (𝘊𝘚𝘈) at Oklahoma Baptist Univ. decided to pledge some non-Chinese students for the first time. I was very close to the Chinese community there, had several Chinese friends. So they asked me, along with two or three others, to pledge the CSA.
Our initiation was to be a contest – a Cantonese-speaking contest. The contest judge was to be Jaxie Short, missionary to Hong Kong who was home on furlough, and sister of Eunice Short, who served as OBU’s liaison to international students, among many other roles she fulfilled there.
Each of us was to be assigned a Chinese student – dubbed our “big brother” or “big sister” – who would teach us to speak Cantonese. The president of the CSA that year was Warren Lee, a good friend of mine as well as a fellow resident assistant in Brotherhood Dorm. Warren had a penchant for being a little silly at times, so I figured it was just Warren being Warren when he told me that he was assigning Joanna Wong to be my “big sister,” telling me point-blank, with a little wink, that he was “setting us up.” (𝘍𝘠𝘐 – 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 21-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 19-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘉𝘰𝘺, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨!)
At that point, I barely knew Joanna at all.
Anyway, it was that month – October 1972 – that Joanna & I started meeting in OBU’s University Center for my Cantonese lessons. For my first lesson, I brought along my reel-to-reel tape recorder, for the purpose of recording our session so that I could use it to practice my Cantonese.
Long story short (𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥?), we continued to meet this way throughout the semester. In January, at the party to celebrate the initiation of the new pledges, Jaxie announced that I had won the contest. (𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧!)
It was at that January party that I began looking at Joanna in a new way. It finally dawned on me just how much I enjoyed being with her, how cute she was, how I loved her smile and her laugh, and I thought, 𝘩𝘮𝘮𝘮, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵. A couple of weeks later, I did, and – to my surprise – she said yes.
Our first date was on January 20, 1973, at an OBU basketball game in the old Clark Craig Fieldhouse (𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘰); afterwards, we walked across Kickapoo St. to the Pizza Hut, only to find it terribly crowded, so we left and walked on down the street to the Grubsteak Restaurant, where we had something to eat and got to talk in a little quieter, less crowded atmosphere.
We were soon spending a lot of time together, going out together regularly. After Joanna graduated from OBU in 1976, we got married that fall at University Baptist Church in Shawnee, with my dad performing the ceremony. For the next 44-1/2 years, we had a truly wonderful and blessed life together, enjoying two wonderful children – Alison (𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯 1981) and Travis (𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯 1985) – and, eventually, four wonderful grandchildren.
I continue to miss Joanna – the love of my life, my companion for life – with every breath I take. I was blessed to be married to an extremely sweet, bright, funny, caring woman.
In observance of the 50th anniversary of that first Cantonese session in the University Center, I’ve created a Joanna & Bill YouTube channel, and uploaded four very brief audio recordings: (1) that first Cantonese session in Oct. 1972, over 3 months before we started dating (𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧?); (2) apparently that same fall, Joanna speaking to me in Cantonese; (3) May 1975, Joanna recording something, at my request, so I could listen to her voice on a lonely drive to Texas to see my parents; and (4) probably around that same time (𝘔𝘢𝘺 1975), Joanna singing a Cantonese song.
Many of my friends were also Joanna’s friends; others have heard me speak about her and my love for her. So I think some of you will enjoy hearing her sweet voice on these recordings. I know I do!
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘌𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 1976 𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘉𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 . . . 𝘐𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 1988, 𝘑𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘖𝘉𝘜 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 1973 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴’𝘴 15𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 7, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 3. 𝘈 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘖𝘉𝘜 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘯𝘪 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘈𝘴 𝘑𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 (𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵), 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴. 𝘓𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴! 𝘌𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘑𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯.
Here’s the link to my Joanna & Bill YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6LFHWahvFrB6URcuTI0dRQ
My 15 previous blog tributes to Joanna since her passing on February 14, 2021:
9/4/22 – On our 46th, remembering anniversary celebrations with Joanna through the years
8/14/22 – A year-and-a-half later: Missing Joanna more than ever
1/29/22 – One year ago – Joanna & I went out to eat together; then came the phone call that changed our lives
1/14/22 – 11 months of missing Joanna . . . my thoughts go back to another January, 49 years ago
12/14/21 – Ten months after Joanna’s passing . . . music, memories, and lumps in the throat
12/1/21 – 12/1/81, a great day as we became parents for the first time . . . Alison turns 40!
11/14/21 – Journeying with Joanna . . . Photo memories from a half-century (almost) of our travels together
9/14/21 – Pictures, pictures, pictures . . . remembering my wonderful trip with Joanna to Hong Kong, Beijing, and Macao 10 years ago this week
9/4/21 – Joanna and I were married 45 years ago today . . . Missing her and celebrating her
8/14/21 – Six months after Joanna’s passing . . . remembering her humor and all that she meant to me
7/14/21 – Five months after Joanna’s passing . . . remembering the lively soul who brought us joy
6/14/21 – Four months after Joanna’s passing . . . a few personal reflections
3/19/21 – Joanna spoke out against demeaning racial slurs and the fears they caused her as an Asian-American
2/22/21 – How Joanna and I got together . . . the beginning of our love story
2/19/21 – The painful journey that took the love of my life, Joanna . . . to the great heavenly banquet