"Thank you" to Helen and Jesse, and Robert for hosting the
party. Thanks to Robert, David and Michael for bringing their families,
traveling thousands of miles to attend my 100 years birthday and have
a happy family reunion.
One hundred years ago, the infant mortality rate in China was 50%.
My parents gave birth to eight children. Only four of us survived
to adulthood, so I am a survivor of the fittest.
One hundred years ago, China was a very patriarchal society - girls
were worthless. Most families just kept one or two girls and gave
the third away or killed her. I am glad my parents kept me.
One hundred years ago, most girls' feet were bound. Fortunately,
my feet were not bound, but I was made to wear tight shoes and stockings.
At that time both shoes and stockings were home-made of cloth. Stockings
were always white and shoes black, and girls' shoes were embroidered.
The general statement was "who would marry a girl with big feet?"
The after-effect of my wearing tight shoes are athlete's foot and
bunions. In America, I have trouble buying size five shoes.
One hundred years ago, girls just stayed at home to learn to cook,
to sew, to embroider, and waited for their parents to arrange a
marriage.Confucius said: "nuzi wu cai bien shi de": (It is a virtue
for girls to be uneducated.) When I was nine years old, my brother
married a westernized woman who was brought up by two American missionary
sisters. When my sister-in-law came to our house, she sent my two
older sisters and me to a missionary boarding school. I, at age
nine, my sisters eleven and thirteen, all started first grade together.
(CALL ON KATHERINE) This is not a fairy tale. My sister-in-law was
Katherine's mother. That was the beginning of my education.
Confucius also said, "nan nu shou shou bu qing li ye. (Man and
woman should not give and take directly.) Chinese believe in separation
of sexes.
One hundred years ago, marriages were arranged by parents through
the help of matchmakers. My two sisters' marriages were arranged
by the families. (CALL ON CHRISTINE.) Christine is the daughter
of my second sister. Again I was lucky to have the fortune of romance
in a semi-feudalistic society. When I was 12 years old and Teddy
was 13, the Chen family and the Chung family lived in the same compound.
We were still children, and we played together nicely. Two years
after, my family moved away to a house in the next lane. Our families
belonged to the same church. Teddy and I sang in the same choir
and sometimes would meet on the street. And as Teddy would recall,
he said that he saw me carry a red cloth bag and as soon as I caught
sight of him I would quickly leave as if in shyness. We never talked
to each other. That was considered the accepted practice of that
time. My sister-in-law and Teddy's mother had always been good friends.
My sister-in-law owned a cabin high up in the mountain. It was
a summer resort area mainly for Caucasian missionaries and business
people. In 1922, when I was 19 years old, I graduated from high
school. The high school was going to send me to Yanjing University
in Beijing in the fall semester just for two years of college education.
It was early summer; I took Hanna and Katherine to go up to the
mountain cabin first. One afternoon, I was alone, practicing penmanship
in the living room. Suddenly Teddy appeared. We had a friendly visit
for at least one hour, mainly about Yanjing University. When he
went home, he told his parents that he was going to move up to the
mountain to see me for the rest of the summer. His parents were
very pleased. His mother came over to see my sister-in-law. Both
women were pleased with the idea.
Sure enough, a few days later, Teddy Chen came to our little mountain
cabin. He came every afternoon at about 3 or 4 and stayed for supper.
He was just like a member of the family. All of us would walked
to see some scenic places in the mountain or stayed at home and
played card games. Teddy and I absolutely had no physical contact
whatsoever, but we did shake hands and say good-bye when I left
for college. It was a romance Chinese-style. We correspondence lightly
thereafter.
After two years of college I came back to Fuzhou in 1924. The same
year Teddy left for America for his graduate study. He was in New
York for five years, from 1924-1929. He studied for a year and a
half, and sick for three years.
In 1928, I decided to go to Beijing to finish my college education;
meanwhile Teddy returned to Fuzhou in 1929. In 1931, I returned
to Fuzhou and taught at Wenshan School, and Teddy was Professor
and Dean of Fujian University. We saw each other every weekend;
then we had romance American-style.
Looking back, life is just like playing a puzzle game. For me
every piece fits in just right. Life is also like playing chess;
for me every move has been correct. For example, when I decided
to marry Teddy Chen, everybody expected me to be a young widow because
his health was very poor, but our marriage lasted almost 59 years.
In 1937 an arrangement was made for Teddy to come to America to
complete his Ph.D degree. I thought, two can live for the price
of one; I would go with him and leave the children with Teddy's
mother. The children had a very loving and dependable nanny. Finally
I decided that all four of us should go together. I thought that
I could put the children in a nursery school while I could do housecleaning
for professors' families for some income to supplement our tight
budget of $70 a month living expense. So on June 29th, 1937, we
left Shanghai by ship, the steamship President Hoover. On July 7,
1937, the Japanese War broke out . We were so happy that the four
of us were together.
The biggest break in our lives was when USC invited Teddy to teach
in the summer school in 1938 before he got his Ph.D degree, and
to teach full-time in 1939 after he got his Ph.D degree. One might
question, "What is so unusual about a Chinese teaching in an American
university?" Remember that it was 1939 and not the 1960's when Chinese
enjoyed the fruits of black people's civil rights movement. So my
late husband was the first Chinese Professor, not only at USC, but
in all of Southern California. When we came to Los Angeles in 1937,
the occupations for Chinese were limited to laundries, restaurants,
herbal doctors, and gift shops which sold Chinese objects d' arts
and Chinese herbs and medicine. The Chinese had not entered into
the main stream of American society until the 1960's. In 1939, three
Ph.Ds at USC having had no job offers in America went back to China.
The Sino-Japanese War made Teddy a public speaker much in demand.
At first he spoke out of patriotism. He was eloquent, articulate,and
personable. His English was impeccable, with no accent. An agent
booked him and he became a professional speaker. Since he made good
money through public speaking, I never needed to go out to find
housecleaning jobs. In fact, I also went back to school. In no hurry,
I also earned a degree. In 1946 we went back to China, where Teddy
became President of Fujian University, but we returned to America
before the Communists took over.
Looking back, one thing stands clear and unmistable that played
an important role in my life --my religious faith. I believe that
every step in the journey of my life has been guided by the good
Lord. Today is an occasion for thanksgiving. I thank God for sparing
us from the hardship of the Japanese occupation and the persecution
of Chinese Communist rule. I thank God for giving us a good life
in this wonderful country. I thank God that I have a loving family,
that all of them are having a good life and good health. I thank
God that my relatives and friends are giving me so much love and
respect, more than I deserve. I thank God that I have no enemy.
I thank God for blessing me abundantly, that I have financial resources
and live a comfortable life. I thank God for living in my condo
for almost 30 years and enjoying daily walking exercises in this
beautiful environment. I thank God for sending Lucy Lau to be my
major caregiver. We pray together twice daily. I thank God for giving
me long life and good life. I have too many things to be thankful
for that I cannot mention them all. In the sunset years of my life
I need God even more. When I have a problem or worry, I go to God
in prayer and peace comes immediately. I accept all the declines
due to age, and thank God for the little I have left and pray that
God will let me keep the status quo. I also pray for a peaceful
exit without dragging illness and pain. Thank you all for joining
me today to celebrate the milestone of my life. May our good Lord
bless us all.