An Unforgettable Day With Yulin and Sidney Rittenberg

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Sometimes in life an incredible experience opens up unexpectedly.  Today was one of those days.  How often does one get to meet a man who has known all of the Chinese leaders since Mao, was accused of being a spy, led a political rebel group in China, been in solitary confinement in a Chinese prison for sixteen years and turned all of this into a successful consulting business? 

I was honored to visit with Yulin and Sidney Rittenberg in their home near Seattle along with friends from Vancouver and Victoria.  This couple inspire through sharing their stories and experiences from China.  Sidney moved to China as a young man in 1944, met and married Yulin while there and then returned to live in the United States in 1979.  Sidney was put in prison on two occasions while living in China, first for six years and then for ten years, both in solitary confinement.  He had originally moved to China working as a linguist and made acquaintance with leaders of the communist party.  He and Yulin now operate a consulting business providing services for large corporations doing business in China.  Remarkably, at the age of 89 there is nothing dull about Sidney.  There was some discussion about the exchange rate of the Yuan to the US dollar.  Sidney pulled out his iPhone 4 and quickly provided the answer.  Later, while getting ready to go out to lunch together he sat at the dining table and used his iPad to look something up.  He exudes wisdom, and his quit whit and love warmed my heart.  He enjoyed telling us about some of his work with Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes.  He said during one of the interviews Mike turned off the recording and looked at Yulin and said, "Are you married to this man?"

Sidney's book "The Man Who Stayed Behind" was co-written with Amanda Bennett in 1993.  He shared with us that he is writing a new book which he plans to have finished next year. 


(Click the photo for a larger image)
Lunch Visit - L to R:  Josanne Holland, Yulin Rittenberg, Mark Holland, Ramona, Sidney Rittenberg, Wilbur Turner, Larry Ho

I captured some of Sidney's wisdom from our visit to share with you.

"Everyone is afraid of trauma.  Trauma is only afraid of one thing.  That is being opened up and examined."

"I tried to remember everything about what happened during the time in prison.  I didn't want the skin to grow over any wounds and then have pain in the future and not know where it was from."

"A person's life purpose can be seen through a trajectory of their actions.  They may or may not be able to see it themselves."

"Your purpose in life is like a rudder.  It will keep you on course.  You can be locked up and many things taken away from you but your purpose cannot be taken away from you.  When I was in prison misery was constant however there was always an edge of happiness because I still had my purpose."

"When you feel bad and you big deal it, the feeling goes away."

There was much more - likely a book could be written just about the day.  To top it all off we went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch and my fortune cookie says "Remember three months from this date!  Your lucky star is shining."

Comments

  1. RamonaSeptember 14, 2010 at 10:48 AM

    Yes, it was a simply wonderful visit! Thank you for posting this, Wilbur. Sidney is "normal" after such horrendous experiences (hearing others tortured, etc). He feared he would never be able to be normal again if he did indeed survive the ordeals. More than normal--he is utterly extraordinary. In my eyes he is a hero, and a very human hero, a mountain of a man with nothing to prove or to defend. It was an honour to share such an amazing visit to his and Yulin's home with you and our other friends. You must keep us posted about your lucky star shining and December 12th! (Could you please send me copies of whatever photos were taken with your camera? Full resolution. Thanks!) xo Ramona

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 8, 2011 at 1:37 AM

    I bought 2 copies of his book, The Man Who Stayed Behind, for Christmas. I gave one to my Dad and kept one for myself. Just yesterday, while waiting for an hour and a half for my Mum at the Eye Doctor, my Dad and I sat in his car and I read him the first few chapters of the book. Both he and I were deep into the story. Dad listened intently to every bit of it. And we got to discuss anything we didn't quite understand until we both agreed on our mutual decision of what it meant. I even got used to all of the Asian names of people and places. What a treat to share Sidney's book with my 82 year old Dad.

    And thanks for sharing your experiences Ramona and Wilbur. Sidney and Yulin are lovely gifts. I hope they continue to share their vision with everyone they meet.

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