(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. (๐๐๐) 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.” (๐๐ ๐ – ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข 21-๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ-๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข 19-๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ-๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐จ๐ถ๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ!)
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 (๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ?), 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. (๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง!)
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, ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ, ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต. 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 (๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ); 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 (๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ 1981) and Travis (๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ 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 (๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ก๐๐จ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ง?); (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 (๐๐ข๐บ 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!
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐น๐ช๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ 1976 ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ . . . ๐๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ 1988, ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ; ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ 1973 ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด’๐ด 15๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ 7, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ 3. ๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ท๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ (๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ต), ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ณ, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด! ๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐น๐ช๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ค๐ค๐ถ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ.
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 โ 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