contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

LIHUA (SHIRLEY) LIANG Passing Down52Lihua (Shirley) LiangMy Heavenly Roofwhen I was a three-year-old girl, I preferred to play on the roofof our apartment building rather than stay in the living room toplay games. That was a beautiful heaven for me when I was a child. Therewere many plants and birds there. I remember clearly, my grandpa lovedhis bonsais very much. The bonsai needs horticultural work; it needs to bepruned, shaped and trained into the desired shape. As time goes on, it willbecome more beautiful.“You’re giving them a haircut. But why don’t you do that for me?” Istood in front of my grandpa and asked.Then he smiled when he answered me. “Oh, really? Which hairstyledo you like?” He guessed I was joking with him.But after I begged him, he did what I wanted. And my grandma laughedat my free haircut when she saw me. Although it didn’t look nice, I felt like“rock and roll.”There were so many things I could do on the roof. I could see thedifferent colors of clouds in the sky on a sunny day. I still remember what Isaid when I saw the airplane fly low over our building. I was shouting: “Takeme away. You forget there is a passenger here.” I could teach the birds to singsongs that I liked. I can’t forget when I said, “Stupid,” and there was a crowthat repeated my word. What a funny bird! It made me angry and happy atthe same moment. I loved to play hide-and-seek with my neighbors. I coulddraw with them, too. We didn’t go home until the sky turned dark. During thenight, I was afraid to go there by myself. My grandma told me that childrenwould be abducted by a UFO. What I usually did at night was count stars withmy sister. “Look! The moonis following me when I’mwalking.” I looked up at theI cherish every moment. HowCOULD I fORGET the thingsthat happened there?