Real Life of an MSW

I love the Op-Ed section of the paper. I believe we all need to write at least one letter on something we’re passionate about in our lifetime. In saying that, I applaud this reader

Re: “How Wing Luke’s legacy continues to shape Seattle” (Feb. 7, Culture):

We members of the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team simply knew Wing Luke as Uncle Wing, a kindly community uncle. He always had a warm smile and cheery greeting for us, even when besieged by groups of us in our red, sequined uniforms, hitting the streets to sell raffle tickets for community fundraisers. Auntie Ruby Chow (who backed his City Council race and co-founded the Wing Luke Museum) instructed us to ask everyone we encountered in Chinatown and our neighborhoods to buy raffle tickets.

Uncle Wing never turned us down. One day, my group was the first to spy him walking past the Chong Wa building in Chinatown. We surrounded him, clamoring, “Uncle Wing, buy a raffle ticket from me!” “No, me!” He smiled broadly, saying, “I want one from each of you.” Our first sales of the day! Thanking him profusely, we rushed off. I looked back. Almost immediately encircled by the next group of teammates, he again bought one raffle ticket from each — until laughingly, he raised his wallet overhead, flipped it upside down, declaring, “I’m sorry girls; I have no more money! Next time!”

That is the Wing Luke I hold in my heart. –Betty Lau, Seattle