Obituary of Yayun Li

My dear mother, Li, Yayun, was born in 1930 in Hunan Xiangxiang County into a landlord and bureaucratic family. My grandfather Li, Junlin, was an officer of the Kuomintang which he worked for at the Wuhan garrison headquarters guard battalion, and died in 1949. Grandmother Deng, Yuhua , was born in a liberal family of small landowners , She studied at a small private school, and was good with poetry and painting. She was a virtuous beautiful housewife. Grandmother died in 1981. Under the influence of my grandmother, my mother entered school from childhood with a normal school education. My mom worked as a teacher throughout her life for 36 years, until retirement in 1985. My mother was born during difficult times in China. She had to escape the Japanese when she was a little girl. She experienced the liberation of land reform when she was a young lady. She was full of enthusiasm for the revolution, struggled with her father to divide the property. But unexpectedly did not get trust by the new government because she was born into a family of landlords and bureaucrats. My mother had high artistic talents. She had a beautiful voice, and also played the keyboard. She performed in the opera “White-Haired Girl”, starred Xi'er ruler when she worked in Xiangxiang County. She married my father in 1955. She changed her location from Xiangxiang to Changsha and worked as a Student counselor and music teacher. Because of her family background and her outgoing personality, my mother narrowly avoided the anti-rightist movement in 1957. But she didn't miss any other movements. She was a target and struggled through every political movement. As I could remember when we were young girls, my sisters and I hardly saw our father in our life. He was sent to the labor camp and worked there for more than 10 years. My mother was like a single parent, she had to deal with a demanding teaching job and take care of her three young children. She also worried about my grandma who was forced back to the country side and lived alone because she was the wife of a landlord. During the Cultural Revolution, my mother was treated as a hidden spy of KMT and America because my father graduated from an American Christian school. He had been accepted by the tiger flying air team of General Chen twice. He helped his two young brothers go to Taiwan. The varieties of criticism were endless and continued from time to time. My mother suffered deeply from mental torture and stress. My strong and brave mother experienced a lot of pressure and pain. She finally welcomed the end of the Cultural Revolution. This period time was like the spring of her life, although it was a little late. My mother worked very hard, threw herself into the new education. Her teaching ability and achievements had been rewarded. My mother was not only awarded as a model teacher every year, she earned the special honor teachers title as well. After my mother retired, her school rehired her back to continue work until she felt it was too much for her to handle. But she did not idle at home, but actively participated in various social activities. In full support of my father, my mother's spare time was spent on social activities. She participated in the activities of a local choir, a folk dance group, a Drum group, a senior model group and Taichi group. She also participated in calligraphy classes, painting classes and even English classes. She won many certificate awards and trophies for her participation and outstanding performance. These activities have greatly enriched her life. In 1999, my first child Jacqueline was born. For the joy of being the grandparents, my mom and dad crossed the oceans to come to the United States and helped me take care of their first granddaughter. At that time my mother was energetic and feeling of vitality. She made her own English songs to play with her granddaughter. "Beautiful, really beautiful, I love you, Jacqueline!" When my second daughter Cynthia was born in 2002, my father's lymphoma relapsed. But the danger of sickness could not stop their joy to spend time with another granddaughter. Without telling me my dad was sick, my parents came to the US to help me again. This time my mom helped take care of my children and worried about my dad's illness, in which she was anxious. Soon, my dad got sicker, forced to return home early for treatment. My second child experienced a very loving grandfather, the first person she called in her life was "Ye Ye"(Grandpa). My father died of cancer in 2004, leaving my mother alone on the mainland. I arranged my 75 -year-old mother to immigrate to the United States and live with us together. My mother was happy during her last 10 years in the United States. She lived close to her loving family and she appreciated the U.S. health system. To immigrant to a new environment at 75 years old, my mother experienced the difficult faced by many new immigrants, such as language, etc. But my mom’s optimistic attitude helped her to face the challenges in her new life. She attended English classes and studied hard to learn English in order to communicate with people. My mother also actively participated in the Princeton Christian Church activities. She learned and recited the Bible just as well as the younger people. My mother was a baptized as a Christian at the Princeton Christian Church late. My dear mother had been in the United States just a decade. Although my mother had many health problems, she loved life and we thought she was a tough lady. I have always wanted to have the opportunity to accompany my mom to live to 90 years old, 100 years old ... But it was a dream now. My mother’s sudden illness took her life quicker than we expected. My mom tenaciously fought with the illness, but it was her time to go to heaven. I believe that heaven is a place where there is no pain. While we mourn the loss of my mother, fortunately my mom reunited with my father in heaven. Please rest in peace Mom, your daughters, son-in-law and granddaughters will carry your courage forward and will miss you forever! An Dai Yank and son-in-law Brian Yank, Granddaughters Jacqueline & Cynthia Yank Min Dai and son-in-law John Milligan-Whyte, Sha Stahlberg and son-in-law Peter Stahlberg In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Association Greater New Jersey 400 Morris Avenue, Suite 251, Denville, NJ 07834