Adeline Yen Mah

May 30, 2005

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog!”

Ms. Mah: You have heard and read it all before; the accolades, the praises; the fans who have shared how they were moved to tears and sleepless nights. Humbly, I could only add more of the same for your book Falling Leaves. It was not a book club or friend who directed me to your brilliant book. I like to think it was the power of the Holy Spirit. I cannot believe it, but I must have been living under a rock when your book hit the shelves. Famous, woman author, accomplished Chinese, Orange County, living in the town adjacent to me. Yes, now I remember… I wasn’t reading much of anything in 1997. I was in the midst of my own life-changing events—topics for other discussions. In reading record-breaking time (for me) I finished your book over a holiday weekend in the midst of bicycling, sunbathing and baking, all the while your paperback never left my sight. Unless you have already written it, there is another story to be told Mrs. (Adeline Yen) Mah. To be sure it is the role that your religion, your Catholicism played in your struggle for survival, your marriage and your source of strength and comfort and courage for today. I know that is what I was looking for as a continued to turn page after compelling page. Having poured over the message board on your website (http://www.adelineyenmah.com) I found that while the reader’s comments from nearly five years are warm and moving, they are nonetheless secular in nature. I look forward to the time when I can hear the voice of that little unwanted sister # five whose life was being lifted up and held by the Lord through the most difficult of times.

May you continue to be blessed by God and use your gifts to change lives and hearts!

Post Script: Because it is Memorial Day, I am pondering a quote by the late General and former President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog!” The “Jackie’s” in your life were never too overpowering for your behemoth spirit!