Gift from a grateful immigrant
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SAN JOSE, CALIF.
The first time Rachel Kuo Tan saw snow she was 11 years old and her family had just emigrated from Taiwan to Seattle.
"One morning I woke up," she recalled, "and when I looked out the window I saw that snow covered everything. It was the most magical thing I had ever seen. I danced with joy and called my brothers and sisters to come and see."
Her uncle, Wu Shin Kuo, had sponsored and financed the immigration of her family. Her parents, Pao Tung Kuo and Huang Chuan Kuo, felt deeply indebted to him. They worked long hours and every penny they earned went to pay the debt. They and their five children, ages 5 to 13, lived in poverty in the top floor of a three-story house.
Rachel's mother was sad and terribly homesick, but wonderful things began to happen to the children as loving friends and strangers entered their lives. The first was their bus driver, Burness.
"She was a happy lady with curly blond hair. We didn't speak much English, but we felt the love of this lady," remembered Sister Tan. "She always greeted us with a smile and taught us English words by pointing to objects and saying their names. She sang songs and taught them to us."
On the last day of school before winter break the loving bus driver dropped all the other students off first. When she arrived at the Kuo home she presented a gift to each child.
"Grandma, who was waiting for us, did not want us to accept the gifts," Sister Tan recollected with a smile, "but Burness shouted 'Merry Christmas,' gave a happy wave, and quickly drove away."
Christmas Eve brought another happy surprise. The doorbell rang and when the family opened the door they found beautiful packages on the stairway filled with clothing, food and presents for every member of the family, including money.
"A note said 'Merry Christmas from Santa Claus.' We never found out who the giver was," said Sister Tan, "but we felt warm feelings that someone had brightened our lives that bleak Christmas. I have always been grateful that someone did something special for us that first Christmas in America."
Their bilingual teacher, Lucy Ou, took the children to many fun outings. She became a mentor for the multitalented Rachel and encouraged her to continue in ballet. As the next Christmas approached, Rachel wanted to see the famous "Nutcracker" ballet.
"My desire to see the 'Nutcracker' was so strong that my family made a tremendous financial sacrifice to set aside money for bus transfers and a theater ticket for one, allowing me to fulfill my fondest wish.
"When I presented my 15 dollars for the ticket, the counterman asked me if I was by myself. With a big smile I replied, 'Yes.' With a big smile of his own he presented the precious ticket to me. Soon I discovered that he had given me a front-row seat. Though I have witnessed the 'Nutcracker' many times since that day, the memory of my first 'Nutcracker' will always be the most beautiful and magical of all. This performance became my inspiration and ultimately directed my career path."
Rachel attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with Lucy Ou and joined it as a teenager. After graduating in 1990 from the University of Washington with a major in communications and a minor in dance and education, she traveled and performed in Asia. She studied in Malaysia with an examiner from the Royal Academy of Dance of London. After five years, dancing six days a week, she became a certified dance instructor.
She met her future husband, Cheoh Tan, at the University of Washington. He eventually joined the Church and they were sealed in the Bellevue Washington Temple. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area because of his work and she opened a small dance studio. They now have two daughters who dance, Miranda, 13, and Elisha, 4, and three dance studios.
"I often thought about the wonderful people who helped our family," commented Sister Tan during a recent talk in sacrament meeting in the Mission Peak Ward, Fremont California Stake, where she is a Relief Society teacher.
"After I joined the Church I realized that the gifts I witnessed were from my loving Heavenly Father, who had prompted the hearts of others to help us. Being a receiver of these gifts I felt and saw the light of Christ for the first time. I remember thinking that I someday I hope to follow their good example."
Last year Rachel's Ballet performed "Nutcracker" for the first time free of charge, at the Interstake Center on Temple Hill in Oakland, Calif. Repeating the two-night gift again this year, performances were scheduled for Dec. 16 and 17.
Quite a gift from a little girl who was given a front-row seat by a kindly ticket seller, where she was caught up in a magical dance of childhood dreams and princely twirls in the Land of Snow. It was an experience she now creates and generously gives to others.
