It´s been a week since mother left us, still can´t believe it, feeling saddened and shocked...
Mom has a tough and eventful life. Born into a wealthy family in china, after witnessing his family members persecuted and their properties confiscated, she left home to start a new life in the frontier province of the Northeast.
Even in such remote region Mom still could not escape the fury of the political persecutions of the regime, as punishments were meted out to her for being born into a "wrong family" She had to leave her teaching post to dig anti-aircraft bunkers. In an accident, Mom´s hand, which won her first prize in the national piano competition, was severely damaged. But Mom was not discouraged. She continue to teach and help her student secretly, as Western music was banned by the regime those days.
When Mom arrived in US, she had no money and little support. But she is such a fighter -- she believed hardworking and independence, which defines "American Dream". Mom worked night shift jobs while enrolling at the music conservatory, whose counterpart institution in China denied her entrance despite her winning the national competition. Mom worked hard and graduated with distinction. While continuing to work hard to improve her economic situation, she also did her best to support her children with their studies. Mom finally returned to the profession she really loved: teaching music. She is well loved by all her students, not only as an excellence teacher, but even more as a compassionate human being and as a friend. Mom surely realized her American dream, and she did it in her own way.
In my childhood, Mom was not around much, and she seemed to be a distant and unfathomable person. But in retrospect, Mom was brought up by an authoritarian father who admired Prussian virtue and discipline. Perhaps she was just too afraid to open up herself, for she loved her children too much. Now I feel Mom´s presence more than ever, watching over us like the brightest star in the nightly sky. She will always be with us and inspire us in our life ahead.