In America nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gave you. – Amy Tan
One of the truly great fictional authors of our time, Amy Tan, celebrates her birthday today. Since I don’t believe that one’s age should define them, I’ll just say it’s her birthday – and leave which birthday it is on the low.
Amy Tan’s celebrated novels include The Joy Luck Club, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and The Kitchen God’s Wife. In the first paragraph of her Biography on her official website, I think it’s fascinating that the idea of her “failing” is addressed.
Born in the US to immigrant parents from China, Amy Tan failed her mother’s expectations that she become a doctor and concert pianist. She settled on writing fiction.
Parents!
The quote at the top of the post indicates the strength that must have seen her through life’s challenges, whether they these challenges presented themselves as a mom with very lofty ideals or an extremely dangerous bout with Lyme Disease.
Granted, we have to play the cards that life deals us. But the moves we make? They’re entirely up to us, after all, they’re in our hands – not someone else’s.