Rita’s husband John here. Thank you to all of Rita’s co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, and caregivers—all of your support and prayers have been so beneficial to Rita’s recovery.
Special thanks to Michael and Annaliese for all their heavy lifting to keep this blog going and the long list of everything else they do to make our lives livable.
Most importantly: I want to thank my Wife (Super Rita) for doing everything in her power to make everyone’s life upbeat and as normal as possible. We can clearly learn a lot from her.
And… in honor of Rita’s BIRTHDAY today, I wanted to share a little bit about how we met.
I met Rita on a Sunday during a GE outing on Lake George. I was hosting a “Meet and Greet” boating event for new international trainees. Trainees came in from all parts of the globe to train for 6 months at GE’s main plant in Schenectady. They were all excited to leave Schenectady for this event at the lake. During the few hours I spent with Rita that day, I learned she came to Schenectady direct from Beijing. She grew up in an industrial town in China, just a one-hour flight from Beijing. I learned that back in China, she has retired parents, a sister, brother-in-law (both police officers), and her niece (who was 7 years old at the time). Rita was living and working for GE in Beijing and was sent to GE Schenectady (the “GE Mecca”) due to her excellent performance and our hopes that we could also benefit to learn from her. We had a great time at the lake that warm Sunday afternoon and I was happy to meet everyone (especially Rita).
I must say, I could not believe on Monday morning when Rita came to my office to thank me for a good time at the lake and what REALLY shocked me is when I asked if she would like to go boating again… she said YES! (And the rest is history!) During our dating period, I learned more about Rita’s college and professional life in Beijing, including:
She was top of her class all throughout her pre-college period
Received her bachelor’s in engineering at a top-rated college in China
She worked for the Design Institute (DI) in HVAC Engineering
Studied English after working at the DI
Received her Master’s in Finance
Prior to GE, she worked at several large international companies
She worked for GE Wind and it was funny to know that I knew many of her colleagues as I covered the Asia region based in Schenectady
Can you tell that I’m a VERY proud husband?! I mean, that is some pretty impressive stuff. After a short time dating, we got engaged (even though we knew she would have to go back to Beijing after her training). Rita met my parents, adult kids, and my friends, and they all immediately fell in love with her iconic smile, attitude, and kindness. And then the time did come for her to go back to China but we made a goal to eventually find her a job in this area.
Let me tell you—long distance was NOT easy! I missed her so much and our almost daily long-distance phone calls were never enough. However, because Rita and I were both traveling back and forth from Schenectady and Beijing for GE business trips, we were able to spend some time with one another. I can remember visiting Rita and hiking the Great Wall with her niece on an extremely hot summer day and taking turns carrying both of them up the steep stairways and endless stretch of the Wall. I must say, I had so much anxiety prior to meeting her mom, dad, and sister for the first time. But, of course, just like Rita, they were all super nice. The long-distance relationship was tough, but after a year, we received the news that she was accepted for a GE position back in Schenectady.
I could not believe how quickly everything moved once she was back in NY: Marriage, house, international traveling, baby Joey, more international traveling, and many moments and adventures that are burned in my memory forever. We have grown as a family with our very own Super Woman as our guiding light, leading the way graciously.
I do believe she really is a Super Woman. And with all of you by her side, she has no fear—Kryptonite is no match for her!
Happy birthday to my beautiful wife! To many, many more!
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