You know, in every nation they love or should love children. What really struck me recently and caused me to weep on numerous occasions has been the plight of families in China following the earth quake.
I have recently been in China with my friends and their mixed kid, father Polish and mother Zimbabwean. I only raise their origins for the following reasons. In China particularly they are exceptionally particular about lighter complexions yet you should see the attention that my friend's son gets with people in Beijing. People hug him and kiss him on the street.
We discussed it with some Chinese folks and of course we arrived at the fact that children are particularly precious to them due to the restrictions families had with regards to having them, i.e. mostly 1 per family. That's why they celebrate each child.
It was with this in mind that I watched and read the horrific tales of couples who had only one precious child that was now gone. Often they were at an age where they could not have other children also. It just tore my heart out as parent after parent searched and waited as the hope of finding their children alive ebbed slowly away. Horrific photos of mothers laying next to the corpses of their dead children were just to horrible to describe. I could not stop the tears.
So I know exactly how you felt Alan.
