What does the most hard-won happy ending look like? A family of five separated for 16 years finally reunites.
My parents' generation truly turned a life of separation and near-death into a legend.
Sixteen years ago, a storm tore their home apart and scattered the family.
The eldest brother went to the Great Northern Wilderness and barely survived the blizzards. The second sister was forced to flee to Hong Kong, clutching a family portrait as she endured countless lonely nights in a foreign land. At twelve, the third sister had nowhere to turn and hid in a broken-down temple on a freezing night, nearly freezing to death in the snow. The youngest brother was left to wander far from home, making it through more than a decade with only half a piece of candy wrapper. Their parents were sent to the northwest and narrowly escaped death, believing they would never see their children again.
Back then, no one thought the family could ever be reunited.
But not one of them gave up.
A letter crossed mountains and seas, and after half a lifetime of longing, they finally saw one another again.
Each had endured the storms alone. At last, they stood side by side, watching the warm bustle of everyday life.
Sixteen years later, the eldest brother returned, the second sister crossed the sea to come home, the youngest brother traveled a thousand miles to find his family, and their parents returned safely. Once lonely geese scattered in all directions, they finally found a nest and reunited. A shattered family could be made whole again, and scattered geese could return home.
Later, all four siblings started families of their own, stayed by one another's side for life, and filled their homes with children and grandchildren. They spent the first half of their lives fighting to survive alone, and the second half lighting the way for one another.
The strongest thing in this world isn't fate. It's a family that refuses to fall apart.
The years may be long, but reunion will come. When the storms have passed, the skies will clear.
This must be the ultimate story of hardships giving way to happiness.
