Sunee is still adapting to living in Tubtai, in a more rural part of the local area, after spending so many years in urban environments.  Now that she no longer holds a driver’s licence, she deplores the difficulty of obtaining a taxi, though she certainly appreciates the open vistas, the improved and less crowded roads, as well as the fresher air.  If only she could get a trustworthy driver/ gardener to assist her a couple of days a week, that would help her immensely.

The couple has lived in many cities and places around the world as Cecil spent more than two decades serving in the United States military as a Chinese linguistic specialist, with many different postings.  Much of what he did at work was top secret, so Sunee was unable to divulge anything about it to me, or else ……. you know how that ends, and I was taking no risks.

While still on the plane she began to second-guess her decision, and a protracted mix-up of meeting point upon her arrival at the airport in Virginia after an internal flight left her even more worried. But it didn’t take long for Sunee to find her feet.  She was prepared to start at the bottom, washing hair again, and studying hard.  Soon she had obtained her professional licence as a hair stylist.  She believes she made a good choice for her original profession as she was always able to find work, wherever in the world her husband was posted.

A further pivotal point in her life was meeting and marrying Cecil Hill.  Sunee recounted the story of their meeting at the night club on Andrews Air Force base in Maryland.  She attended as the guest of a girlfriend who was married to an American serviceman.  Sunee believes Cecil found it fascinating he couldn’t buy her more than a soft-drink, and that she wouldn’t slow dance with him.  Cecil told me he knew he wanted to marry Sunee within 24 hours, and had told her that within 48 hours.  

One story Sunee recounted was of her experience with a fortune teller as a young woman.  She was with a friend, and she refused to part with good money for something she wouldn’t believe anyway.  The fortune teller insisted on telling Sunee’s fortune anyway, without payment.  She revealed to Sunee that she would get married a long way away, and that she would have considerable wealth later in life, 2 things that indeed eventuated. Coincidence or not, Sunee remains a sceptic.  She knows that the source of wealth is hard work, and nothing else.

And Sunee did work hard.  She worked as a hairdresser in many cities where Cecil was posted and gained plenty of respect for her honest, no-nonsense approach. She is a very principled woman, with strong moral values, who simply can’t abide cheating and lying.  Sunee understands that one’s reputation is priceless. In her dealings with others, she is always direct and has a strong preference for people to return the favour. This is wisdom she would most certainly pass to her teenage self, given the chance.

Sunee’s entrepreneurship saw her opening a Thai restaurant called Thai Sa-mai to great acclaim in Gaithersburg Maryland.  I know it received much acclaim as Sunee still has printed, glowing restaurant reviews from the Gaithersburg Gazette from February 1, 1989 and the Washington Post from October 24, 1990, tattered and yellowed they may be.  Unfortunately, she only cooked in the restaurant for 2 years, as Cecil was reposted and she was forced to sell up. Sunee has been the mistress of her own fortune from quite early in life, it seems, though she takes quite a fatalistic approach to many things.

Holding a very strong Buddhist faith, as opposed to Cecil’s Christianity, Sunee devotes an hour to prayer each evening and frequently offers intercessional prayers for other people she knows. She sees her faith as one of her strengths, as well as her love for family.  Sunee is very self-aware and acknowledges she is still working on anger management and her natural desire for retribution if she perceives she, or anyone close to her, has been wronged. She admits this is a very Chinese aspect of her personality.

When questioned about her greatest extravagance, Sunee confessed it has been education.  She and Cecil have spent a great amount of money on educating themselves.  Cecil holds three Masters’ degrees in foreign affairs, business administration and English language, studied to obtain military promotion as well as to ensure his ongoing employability on leaving the military.  Sunee spent money on training as a hairdresser in both Paris and England, enabling her to snare customers from high society.  Then, since she has retired from full-time work, Sunee has spent a large amount of money pursuing her passion for traditional Chinese painting, taking tuition from at least ten prominent Chinese artists in countries all over the world.  Doing nothing is certainly not Sunee’s style; she needs to be constantly occupied and on task.

Cecil offers his emotional support and encouragement to Sunee in all her endeavours.  When she initially expressed uncertainty about her pursuit of art at a mature age, Cecil took her to an exhibition of works by Grandma Moses, an American artist who only began painting in earnest at the age of 78, and who became a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age.  Sunee was only in her 60s at the time. Point made.

In her studio, full of materials and equipment, she paints, dries and then personally makes the frames that cherish and protect her artworks.  She imports specialist silks from China and is constantly working to achieve master status.  She explained to me that she is still to perfect her use of Chinese characters, where one extra tiny dot can drastically alter the meaning.

It would be lovely to sell all her paintings, but Covid had an impact on sales, as her gallery, GuangMang, was closed for over a year. As long as she makes enough money to cover her costs in constantly replenishing her materials, Sunee is satisfied.  The artistic process, it seems, is equally as rewarding as the product, if not more so.

Sunee lives a life of contentment.  She loves taking a walk in nature and appreciating its beauty, far more than she has been able to enjoy the man-made beauty of the great cities of Europe.  She enjoys a bitter dark chocolate but still eschews alcohol. Sunee likes to spend several hours each day focused on her art, because she finds the singularity of focus relaxing, and still likes being “the most hospitable person in the world”, as Cecil calls her. I can vouch for that, since we chatted for so long that she sent me home with prepared food to feed my starving husband.