China - 1950's

My grandma was born on November 17th, 1949, when the Chinese Civil War had just ended. It was a period of peace throughout the whole country, however, Mao’s policies drove many people into poverty. My grandma was born in a small rural village off the coast of Southeast China. Her life, along with the lives of the other villagers, was filled with struggle and sprinkles of happiness.

When she was only in the 5th grade, she dropped out to support her family so she could help with the chores and raise the farm animals back home. Back then, there was no currency system, so to make ends meet, her family had to work every day to get “labor points.” At the end of the year, all their hard hours in the sun amounted to less than a hundred yuan. The only other way to make a little extra change was to raise chickens or pigs and sell them to the food bureau or at a street market. Their diets were purely reliant on homegrown potatoes and taro, and the only times they would see a piece of meat on the table would be New Year's. They never showered and never brushed their teeth; being clean or looking good was more of a want than a need. My grandma believed they lived more like animals than as humans.

In her early 20s, she gave birth to her first son, my uncle, followed by my aunt and my dad. She could not afford to go to the hospital to give birth, so each time she gave birth, she would call a midwife to the house and give birth on the floor. In 1990, she and my Grandpa’s family immigrated to the United States, leaving her sisters behind. The struggle didn’t end there. She began working long hours in a sewing factory, coming home when her children were asleep. After all her children graduated from high school and found successful careers, she felt like her sacrifices finally paid off. Today, she has been retired for over 10 years and spends her days playing mahjong and going out for lunch with her friends.