Damaris Reynolds and I met in 2005. For 70 years, my father Hutch had been searching for evidence of the greatest flood in history - China, Jiangsu Provence, August 1931. Hutch wanted to honor his father, Lyt Harnsberger, a Presbyterian Missionary who quit the church to lead the rebuilding of the grand Cabal levees in Gaoyou, where 26 breaks had flooded a 10,000 square mile area. But Hutch did not get to see this discovery, he had died 3 weeks earlier. And so at 1 AM, I googled "Flood, 1931 China photos" and ended up on Charles Lindbergh.com. That's where my life intersected with Damaris, now my dear friend. Damaris posted her family China story and photos of Charles and Anne Lindbergh staying at their home in Nanjing Sept 1931, when they arrived at the end of his "North to the Orient" flight. He landed in the middle of the flood and Damaris" father Willis peck, was the US Consul General. Lindbergh flew over the floods, photographing and mapping what is called the greatest flood in history. He left his photos and some of the items from his plane at their house (the plane is now in the Smithsonian). When I saw Damaris photos, a real chill came over me, for I knew this was the grestest flood I had ever seen, 70,0000 square miles, bigger than the state of New York. Then, I recognized the Grand Canal, and enormous ruptures in the levees, and a smokestack from our family albums. I found that Lindbergh flew directly over Gaoyou levee disaster photographing the great levees breaks along the Grand Canal. Damaris held the key to a 70 year old family mystery, in a photo that told it all. This was Lyt's dike - and Lindy had photographed it, both of them were even in the New York Times. I came to see Damaris as a dear friend, a life messenger of some sort. She is 99 years old now and in our thoughts and prayers. Her smile and sense of humor, the depth of understanding of life and the world, her perspective on history and the realtionship of the US and China. I count Damaris as one of the most special persons I have ever met, her own story colliding with mine exploding into a discovery that my father spent his whole life trying to make. To honor one's father is one of life's greatest privilege, and Damaris allowed me to do so, and to honor my father by in fact paying tribute to his own father. It's a rare gift Damaris bestowed upon me. It resulted in a museum in China, and movie on CCTV 9 telling the story. Less than eight months after I met Damaris, her photos filled a museum in Gaoyou created to honor the heroes of the 1931 flood disaster, Lyt Harnsberger, Charles and Anne Lindbergh, General Wang and Hermit Lin. Damaris' photos were shared in print subsequently by the Shanghai Daily, the Beijing Daily, the Marin County Independent Journal and other publications. This video honors Damaris, her love of life - we should it at the Lindbergh Symposium in Florida in 2007. Thank you Damaris - you lit up my life and will be forever in my heart. Note: Special thanks to Michael Goldstein for Editing and Production, Steven Harnsberger Video Posted 7-26-12

• published: 26 Jul 2012
• views: 1331