My father CHOI, Ping Fan was born in the year 1900 at the colonial Hong Kong

My father CHOI, Ping Fan was born in the year 1900 at the colonial Hong Kong 我的父親蔡炳勳於1900年生於殖民時期的香港. 他從少教育我們十兄弟姊妹不管身在何處，我們是中國人，不要忙記我們的根，國家需要我們的時候要無私地奉獻! By Johnson Choi 5-27-26

14歲那年，世界陷入第一次世界大戰。到我父親18歲時，已有超過2200萬人喪生。

生活還未復原，一場致命的大流行病 – 西班牙流感 – 便席捲全球。20歲那年，父親熬過了這場奪走近5000萬條生命的疫病。

29歲時，父親經歷了經濟大蕭條。銀行倒閉、工作消失、飢饉蔓延，無數家庭一夜之間失去一切。

33歲，納粹主義崛起，歐洲開始陷入陰霾。

39歲，第二次世界大戰爆發。戰爭結束時，父親已45歲，超過6000萬人死去。

52歲，韓戰爆發。

64歲，越戰開始，一直持續到父親75歲。

1985年出生的人，或許會覺得自己的祖父母根本不懂何謂艱難。但那些祖父母輩，卻熬過了世界大戰、大流行病、經濟崩潰、物資配給、恐懼、失落與不安——其規模之大，如今大多數人難以想像。

也許，老一輩並非「與時代脫節」。

也許，他們是在一次次挺過歷史的重擊後，才被鍛造得如此堅韌。

At 14, the world is thrown into World War I. By the time my father turn 18, over 22 million people are dead.

Before life can recover, a deadly pandemic — the Spanish Flu — sweeps across the globe. At 20 years old, my father survive a disease that kills nearly 50 million people.

At 29, my father endure the Great Depression. Banks collapse, jobs disappear, hunger spreads, and entire families lose everything overnight.

At 33, the rise of Nazism begins to darken Europe.

At 39, World War II erupts. By the time it ends, my father was 45, and more than 60 million people have died.

At 52, the Korean War begins.

At 64, the Vietnam War starts, lasting until my father was 75.

A person born in 1985 might think their grandparents could never understand hardship. But those grandparents lived through world wars, pandemics, economic collapse, rationing, fear, loss, and uncertainty on a scale most people today can barely imagine.

Perhaps the older generations were not “out of touch.”

Perhaps they were forged by surviving what history threw at them — again and again.