Lillian Johnson

What has enriched my life has always been to have a creative outlet. When you have that outlet you exprience a passion for something. Sometimes it gets you through difficult times and gives you a lot of joy. My advice to you is to find your passion and learn from it and practice it.

Lillian Johnson

My name is Lillian Johnson. I was born in Galesburg, Illinois on July 3, 1950. I was the first American-born member in the family. My parents were born in Canton, China. It’s right across the water from Hong Kong. My dad came to this country as a teenager. I had to explain a lot to my parents because they didn’t understand American culture. My family motto is: Work hard and don’t get in trouble! If I heard “Don’t get in trouble!” once, I heard it a thousand times.

I spoke nothing but Chinese until I was four or five. When I started hanging out with other kids I learned English and dropped the Chinese. I could think in Chinese but couldn’t speak it anymore. That is something I regret. My parents spoke nothing but Chinese in our home.

By the time I got to junior high I had a large circle of friends. I was a cheerleader then. I remember having to explain to my parents what cheerleading was. In junior high I experienced my first milestone. A milestone is when something happens to you and you remember where you were at in that moment. President Kennedy was shot. I was in a class and heard about his assassination. For days after that I watched it happen over and over and over again on television.

I went to Western Illinois University, which was an hour away from home. It was there I experienced for the first time being treated differently in life. Although we were the only Chinese kids growing up in our school, I always felt like an American. I never felt different, perhaps unique, but it wasn’t until college I felt different. The English teacher treated me as if I couldn’t speak English. I never said much. I thought possibly it could be to my advantage to have her think this way or possibly I should speak up and let her know I could speak English.

After I left Western Illinois, I came back to Galesburg and went to work for the Illinois Power Company. I did that for ten years. Within that time I got married. The man I married was a friend in high school. We moved to Minnesota in 1984. I had a job working for the city of Edina. I did their water and sewer bills. After a couple of years my daughter Alex was born, in 1987. I decided to stay home with her after she was born. I got to share her childhood and kind of experience childhood again.

I never got interested in Chinese culture until I was an adult, when I read a book from Chinese authors. The books reminded me of my childhood and family. America is a melting pot. It’s easy to come to this country and assimilate. I have never gone to China, but I would like to go. My mother has never been back since she came here. For some reason she’s always been afraid to go back. I would like to experience that with her.

I’m the library clerk at FAIR School. I do all the physical work to maintain your library. My favorite part about being a librarian is finding out what children are interested in reading and finding out what you want. It’s also introducing new things to the children.