Visiting Uncle Qi ‘s family in the winter break of school in Hunan Henyang in1980.
My aunt Myrtle is my mother‘s sister-in-law. Throughout my childhood, my mother had frequently commented that my aunt was an extraordinary woman. When the National Party Government was about to collapse, my aunt had a chance to leave mainland of China with her parents to Taiwan, but she chose not to. In order to stay with my uncle, my aunt was willing to endure the predictable suffering from political persecution. This action was the manifestation of extraordinary strength, my mom said. To me, my aunt has been a heroic figure. After age 50, my aunt came to U.S., she studied and took the TOFEL exam, then the nurse licensing exams. She became a hospital nurse. To some of us here today, becoming a nurse may seem like a big deal. But to those who were trained in the schools of mainland China during those years, it is a big deal, particularly in the field of medicine. In the era when the obsolete knowledge was all from the copycats of Russian textbooks, the trainings provided little help to handle those exams, not to mention the language barrier. My aunt’s spirit of braving her challenges has always inspired me, which was essential for me to become a US licensed pharmacist later.
For all those years, I had numerous opportunities to spend time with my aunt’s family, although each time was brief. We spent time together as early as 1967, and the last meeting was 2021. We met in Hunan Henyang, Guangxi Beihai of China, in New York, in Washington DC, in Gainesville of Florida, in San Francisco. Many times I felt that my aunt talked me just like one of her children. One year after my college graduation in1983, my aunt came and stayed with us in Beihai for a while. At that time, with help from Uncle Chan, Aisi, Aiyi and many other cousins had come to start school in US. I wanted to come to US to get a degree as well, but I did not see where the passage was. At the time, I worked in a pharmaceutical company. I told my aunt that the company recommended me as the chief executive and the Government was considering it. Upon hearing this, my aunt promptly made her comment, “what is the point of being the executive of a broken company? It is a useless quest. Don’t do it, Cici. ” Following this comment, my aunt firmly said “Go to the US to study. Aisi will help you (achieve that).” Three years later, when I was a graduate student, my aunt was leaving China for the US. Before her departure from Guangzhou, my aunt said to me again: “Go study in the US, don’t give up. Aisi will help you.” The promise made by my aunt was so potent, that it had energized me all the way. Having a $50 bill tucked in an envelope sent by Uncle Chou from Beijing, I had the registration fee for TOFEL exam and GRE. Aisi sent me his financial affidavit. Because of these helps, I am able to stand here to pay my homage to my aunt.
When my aunt was talking to me, I had always felt that my aunt addressed me like a parent. During my college years, I spent a school break with my uncle in Hunan Henyang. My aunt asked me questions about the courses in school, and there were moments when my aunt said very softly, but firmly to three of us, “Aisi, Aiyi, Cici, today we are going to read a book together. Each one of us read a passage in turn, does everyone agree?” The scholastic atmosphere was infused with parental love. In the year of 1989 around Christmas when I had just started the graduate school in the University of Florida: Aisi, Aiyi , Judy, Peter and my Aunt came to Disney World in Florida. My cousins took a route to Gainesville to see me. I was far away from my wife and son left in China, the loneliness was immense, the school courses were perplexing, and I felt miserably lost . All of these were obviously caught by my aunt’s eyes. All my cousins had finished schools, had jobs, owned houses, and were on their family vacation. I just started the school here, and I am the oldest. The contrast was huge. I profoundly doubted if I would be able to make it. My aunt was definitely able to look through me. She found a chance to pull me aside, said quietly “in a few years, you will be like them”. The encouragement from my aunt’s was powerful. Just a few words had spurred me all the way through later years.
When my mother moved from Washington DC to Florida to stay with me while recovering from her stroke, my aunt came from California to visit us. It was a holiday season of 2011. One day, my aunt was looking for a hair cap for a shower, but I didn’t even know what a shower cap was. My aunt said her criticism fast and straight “Cici, you should have a shower cap at home! “. Then later that day, my aunt asked me. “Cici, where is your whole body mirror?” But I did not have one in my house. My aunt had her straight forward shoot again: “what is wrong with your house?”
Oh, my dear Aunt, I am so sorry. I used to think that as long as a mirror was big enough to cover our faces, alerting us to the overgrowing facial hair, then all would be good. Now I learned. In an evening, we decided to watch movie at home together. What movie to choose? My son Edward was quick, he said “Dad, you would like this movie, The Hateful Eight,” which is a bloody western movie with Samuel Jackson. Very quickly, my aunt gave her rejection “Oh, no! What kind of movie is this?!” My aunt called a halt, and she suggested we play “Pride and Prejudice”. My aunt had read the book, and watched movie of “Pride and Prejudice” several times. I wonder how many common folks have my aunt’s ability to appreciate this piece of English literature. My aunt was capable of speaking out her opinion, almost spontaneously when she was among our family. I did not know how much effort she had to make to constrain herself from speaking out when she was in China. In 2017, my wife had been ill for years. I worked for a full-time job, and I took care of her when I was off work. My aunt was obviously worrying about my situation. She came to Gainesville with Aiyi to check on me. My aunt gave me various suggestions to deal with stresses. Before she left Gainesville, my aunt said to me: “Cici, from what I have seen, your house has been run orderly, your management of care has been carried without chaos. You have done a good job.”
Now, my aunt, my last parental figure, has left me, left us. No one would come to check on me, no one would dare criticize me straight to the point, such as “what is wrong with your house?!” My vision is that, my aunt now is residing in God’s house, enjoying the bliss of reunion with the preceded ones she loves, watching over all of us. Aunt Myrtle, be easy, please, we shall be OK.
March 9, 2026
Baixi Lin
PurenHealthInfo.com 