Derrick said (March 3, 2010):
Henry, I want to tell you how much I enjoyed David's article from China because it really rung a bell in my life and experience.
In 1977 my wife and I left the US for Europe; knowing what we wanted but not knowing where we could find it. We made friends with a retired American missionary who'd worked twenty years in Algeria and was now living in the south of France. He once told us, "France is 20 years behind the States." We said, "Then that just gives us time to raise a family!"
That is what we did. We dug in, learned the language and stayed. It hasn't always been easy street but the odd trip "back home" reminds us of why we came -- more than ever. We now have seven children (oldest 31, youngest 10) and a family business I started almost 20 years ago. Three of our children are now married and so we're starting to get grandchildren (six so far).
We have tried to raise our children in a moral environment. We had a black & white TV set for a few years (given to us) till we threw it out, disgusted at how little we decided we could watch and not wanting any of it for our children. Getting rid of the TV was a key move.
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