This is about Christmas, but it’s also about the thing, the thing in all of us, whether we realize it or not.

Christmas wasn’t a day of gifts or decorations at Lisa Wong Esposito’s Hong Kong home; her parents were Buddhist. She’s making up for that.

Just this winter, Lisa, now in Long Beach, NY, spent more on her Christmas decorations than most residents pay in annual property taxes.

When I asked Lisa about all those expenses, she said she didn’t have any decorations at Christmastime at her childhood home, so “Now I make up for it.”

Lisa reminded me of what she said in the past:

“Do I have fancy clothes? This—is my thing.”

I’ve learned that this thing of Lisa’s is love.

It’s a thing of beauty that’s within all of us. But too often it’s buried beneath the demands, needs, and wants of the day for us to express it much. Still, many of us manage to.

Lisa’s love is acutely present in her, and she expresses it in many ways.

Many Long Beach residents and visitors marvel at her garden all year, but especially at Christmas.

Lisa told me she is so grateful to Tina Pascullo and Limitless Landscapes for helping with all her home improvements, landscaping, and decorations.

Because of readers’ interest in my past essays about Lisa, I thought I’d ask more about her life in Hong Kong and America.

She agreed to meet with me in my condo’s social room.

Lisa said Hong Kong is surrounded by beaches. She loved being near the sea, which is why she chose to live in Long Beach, NY, the City by the Sea.

Lisa’s family came from Hong Kong to America when she was fourteen. But when she was ten, Hong Kong was under British rule, and she remembered going to the beach with Miranda, one of her best friends, atop a double-decker bus.

The shore was beautiful. But the South China Sea is different from our Long Beach waters. We have a deep blue sea of crashing waves. The South China Sea is green, Lisa said, and it was always calm and easy to swim; not so at our shore.

Lisa especially remembers the offshore floating platforms, about 150 feet out. One could swim to them, climb up to have fun, or just relax.

Lisa and Miranda swam out to the platform. But, unaware of the incoming tide, their clothes on shore became soaked. Lisa laughed when she said the pair had to ride the bus all the way home, soaking wet.

She also recalled working at her dad’s sewing machine factory in the summer, doing small chores. But learning to fix sewing machines, too. She said she could still fix them, but only the old kind, not the new plastic things. 

Chinese food, in Hong Kong, was far different from American-style. Fresh vegetables were important to her family and all Chinese people. So, traditional Chinese food was made with all fresh vegetables and half as much meat or poultry as American-style.

Lisa’s parents led a traditional Chinese life; mom was a housewife who shopped in the morning for lunch vegetables and again in the afternoon for dinner vegetables.

Many of Hong Kong’s British, Australians, Americans, Europeans, and others put up Christmas decorations and exchanged gifts. But there were no decorations at the Wongs’ Buddhist household, nor Christmas gifts.

But there were both at the Catholic, Maryknoll Convent School, where she attended.

Lisa’s family did celebrate the Chinese New Year with gifts; they closed the shop for three days, too, as did all Chinese families. 

Chicken was a good meal for the celebration, but the price doubled as the day drew near. Lisa’s mom would buy a live chicken two weeks early, then feed and fatten it.

Lisa remembers befriending and playing with the chicken. When New Year’s Eve came, her mom slaughtered and served the chicken. Lisa wouldn’t eat it.

On the first days of the Chinese New Year, Lisa and her friends would go door-to-door to collect the traditional red pocket money. 

Relatives, nearby friends, and neighbors would hand out red pockets, tiny envelopes, to children who went door-to-door. The Chinese red pocket tradition continues today, even in America.

Lisa recalled that if you felt coins inside the envelope, you weren’t as happy as you would be when the envelope was soft and flat and contained folded cash.

Lisa said some neighbors would take their vacations during those days to avoid dealing with the kids and red pockets. Lisa laughed as she told me about it.

Lisa was born on Chinese New Year’s Day. She never had chicken on her birthday, but she did get two red envelopes. Lisa laughed again at the thought; she has a hearty, honest laugh that makes you smile, too. She is a happy woman.

Lisa has much to be happy about here in America. Yes, the loss of her husband, Vietnam Vet Frank Esposito, hurt her deeply, of course, but she said that as the years pass, her memories of him bring only good feelings. Feelings of love. But she said, “It took about ten years.”

Speaking with Lisa for over an hour and a half, I could feel the love that she exudes. She expresses her love in her own way.

Lisa has two German Shepherds, Rocky, seven, and Mimi, two. Lisa is busy cooking for them every day.

She grinds and cooks meat, chicken, or turkey, and skims the fat off it three times. She adds it to homemade chicken broth, then mixes in sweet potatoes, celery, carrots, and butternut squash. The result is 10% starch, 10% fiber, 80% meat.

Of course, there are many easier ways to feed dogs; our markets are full of cans, bags, and packets of dog chows.

I knew the answer to my question, but asked anyway, “Why do you do all that?” She replied with a smile, “Because I love them.”

Yeah, it’s all about the thing.

Lisa loved Frank Esposito.

Frank died, wasting away from 195 lbs to 125 lbs. Lisa said, “He was skin and bone.” He died Dec. 11th, 2013.

Her incredible garden is mainly to honor Frank, but Lisa said it’s also to share beauty with the people of Long Beach and their visitors.

Lisa’s home is on the main road into Long Beach: Long Beach Blvd. at Beech Street.

You’ve likely noticed that I keep seeing so much love from Lisa and other people I speak with. Especially people who have lost loved ones in service to us and carry that love on.

There are many ways Americans die for us besides bullets and bombs.

Frank Esposito, an Army Combat Engineer, died of mesothelioma from working with asbestos on an aircraft carrier.

Other brave men and women suffered or died from Agent Orange, or cancer and other diseases from Burn Pits, PTSD, or from working the pile at the World Trade Center site.

They, too, are casualties in service to America; they, too, are heroes.

Lisa still stays in contact with her childhood friend Miranda, still in Hong Kong. But Lisa is happy to be here in Long Beach, NY, U.S.A.

Lisa said that since China took over Hong Kong in 1997, life is much worse than when she was there. She said people don’t realize, unless they live it, how bad communism is.

The population is so dense, and housing costs are so high. Lisa said, Even a coffin home is $800-$900 per month. Coffin homes are about 25 sq ft of living space. A little more than a bed can fit.

People are fearful of speaking out. Some spoke out about the horrible fire that engulfed three high rises, and they were arrested. Mourners leaving flowers at the site had only three days to do so. After that, the flowers were removed, and mourners trying to place more there were chased away.

Health care under communism is abysmal. If you have a cold, you have to make an appointment. Lisa said, “By the time you see a doctor…” She shrugged, hands out, palms up.

Lisa recalled going back to China in 1973 when her mom wanted to revisit mainland China.

When they left to come home, she discovered that the authorities had exposed all of her film. The only photos she took were at the zoo and in a park. But all were gone because of their policy.

Such is life under communism or any authoritarian government.

Lisa is so grateful that her family came to America; she flies our flag every day.

She enjoys decorating her garden on our holidays.

She’s happy to see passing people smile at her garden all year long—but most of all on Christmas. Lisa just loves Christmas.

Yes, it’s her thing. And her thing is love.

Be well,

Leebythesea