Family ties from history remain intact

Marybelle Brewster, daughter of Harold N. Brewster and Dorothy Brewster, both of whom used to work in hospitals, schools and orphanages from the 1920s-30s

My father was a medical doctor. He started first in Gutian (Fujian province) hospital, and then came to Fuzhou when we came back in 1938. I was in Fuzhou from then until 1949. He stayed until 1950.

It was my home here. We loved being here. My father was very much at home in China. Our family was a mix because my mother was very American, had never lived anywhere outside the US before. In our family, there were a lot of American customs. We were homeschooled by our mother. But when we lived in Gutian, I played mainly with Chinese kids. It's a really special place in our lives, which is why I came back.

When I came back in 2010, we went to Union Hospital in Fuzhou. Doctor Zhang, who was president of the hospital then, invited us for dinner. There was an old woman who was a retired nurse from the hospital. She was trained under my father, so she knew my father.

When we returned to the US in the 1950s, China closed up, and we couldn't come back. Then my father died in the 1960s. He never was able to come back. He would come in a minute if he could.