Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Nona Mock Wyman signs a copy of her first book, which tells of her life in the old Ming Quong home, for Los Gatan Barbara Baggerly.

Ming Quong orphan's life comes full circle

By Shari Kaplan

Nona Mock Wyman has gone from being a scared little girl left at an orphanage in Los Gatos to running a successful business to becoming an author. When Wyman returned to her adopted hometown of Los Gatos last month to read her recently published memoirs, she had truly come full circle.

Wyman's first-person narrative, Chopstick Childhood in a Town of Silver Spoons, is the first book to chronicle the history of the Ming Quong Home, located in the vicinity of the current Eastfield Ming Quong Conference Center on Loma Alta Avenue in Los Gatos.

The home opened in 1935 on the former estate of the Spreckles family--of sugar fame--and was the only institution of its kind to accept girls of Chinese descent, according to EMQ spokesperson Tanya Lonac. Wyman's mother left her at the home the same year it opened, and at 2 1/2, little Nona was the youngest girl ever admitted.

At the time, the home was an outgrowth of a Presbyterian mission in San Francisco whose goal had originally been rescuing Chinese slave girls at the turn of the century. During the 1950s, Ming Quong began accepting needy children of all races and became independent from the church. In 1987, it merged with Eastfield--San Jose's first orphanage--and also redirected its focus to become a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed youth.

Growing up at Ming Quong, Wyman says the best experience was the camaraderie and sisterly love that developed among the "MQ Girls," as they call themselves. Looking back, she says she is also thankful for the guidance offered by MQ teachers--"They were strict because they really cared for us. Like a parent feels for their kids, they wanted the best for us."

Deciding to put all these formative years of her life in writing came partly from encouragement from her husband, Joe Wyman, and friend Joe Wong, an Asian American studies lecturer.

"To me it all seemed rather ordinary, but my husband said, 'No, it isn't; it's interesting,' " Wyman recalls. "Joe Wong said it's a rich history. I never thought of it as history; I thought of it as everyday life."

"Sometimes when people hear that I lived in an orphanage, they're amazed that I turned out OK," she adds, laughing.

For five years, Wyman handwrote, then typed on a manual typewriter what would eventually total more than two dozen chapters, interspersed with old snapshots of herself, her "sisters" and aspects of MQ life. Most of the typing she did while in her Walnut Creek clothing and gift shop, appropriately named Ming Quong. Adjacent to her store is "MQ," a jewelry and T-shirt shop run by her son, Jim.

What she liked best about writing, she says, was the excitement of revisiting old memories.

"When an idea comes to you and you get it down and it just flows, you can relive the feeling, whether it's a happy or a sad memory," she says.

"So far, the biggest, hardest and longest course in my education has been writing this book. In terms of years, I would say this is equal to a master's, and in terms of writing, equivalent to a Ph.D!" she writes in the afterword.

Chopstick Childhood in a Town of Silver Spoons is available at the Village House and Garden Restaurant, 320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, as well as at the Butter Paddle, 14510 Big Basin Way, Saratoga. The proceeds of both volunteer-run businesses benefit EMQ, as does a portion of Wyman's book sales.

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