Old things in the south

Chapter 76 The Wind Chime of Life—Four Questions on Respecting the Elderly (1)
Xie Bingying

This spring, I heard a news that Xie Bingying, a senior female writer who has been living in San Francisco, seems to have amnesia, and her daughter plans to take her to live with her.After hearing this, I quickly told my eldest daughter Xia Zumei and asked her to make a phone call to find out.Because the children are very familiar with Aunt Xie, and because they live in San Francisco, they also have contact with each other from time to time.Mr. Bingying lives alone in a nursing home for the elderly on Broadway Road, and he has always been safe.She used to live with her husband, Mr. Jia, and lived here alone for many years after Mr. Jia passed away.There are many friends, but you are not lonely.Every time I go to the United States, I will visit her in that crowded and stuffed hut. She is happiest when she sees people from Taiwan.Although he is on four-legged crutches, he happily makes tea and snacks for the guests.

Mr. Bingying's leg was broken on the boat when he immigrated to the United States with Mr. Jia. The operation was not performed until he landed, but the operation was not ideal, so it has been in trouble for many years.But she is a person with strong vitality and activity, and she is economical. Every time she goes out, whether she is attending a meeting, seeing friends, or shopping, she uses a cane to drive the bus.I also came back to Taiwan twice in the middle.She still had a dormitory at the Normal University, and let others live there.I remember that Mr. Liang Shiqiu sent a letter from the United States, saying in the letter: "... Xie Bingying also sent a letter, saying that she would not have another operation. I think she is too unfortunate, and I sympathize with her." It can be seen that her leg has been troubled all the time. .

When Zumei called me back and told me: "I called Aunt Xie, and I signed up saying that I was Meili (Zumei's nickname), but she didn't know, and I said I was Lin Haiyin's daughter, and she seemed at a loss. When I asked her if her children wanted to live with her, Aunt Xie admitted, but she couldn’t tell me the exact address.” I was also very anxious after hearing this, fearing that I would lose contact with her, so I asked my daughter to inquire more carefully.After a while, Zumei wrote a letter, reporting in detail the situation of Aunt Xie that she had inquired about. It was written like this:

... I just called Aunt Xie's younger sister (Ms. Yan), who is Aunt Xie's half-sister.Aunt Xie's situation is:

About a year and a half ago, they discovered that there was something wrong with Aunt Xie. The so-called something wrong was amnesia, which I think was Alzheimer's disease!So her daughter decided to take her mother to live with her.Everyone is not in favor of it, because the son-in-law is a foreigner, but the daughter is very filial and insists on picking it up. The daughter came just two months ago.But unfortunately, on the night when her daughter came, Aunt Xie got up from the bed at one o'clock in the night to go to the bathroom, fell down, broke her ischium, was immediately admitted to the hospital for surgery, and was connected to a steel pipe.Unexpectedly, within a few days, the steel pipe came out of the body from the inside. It turned out that the bone was broken, so I had to put another artificial bone inside and connect the steel pipe again.The second operation was very painful, and she was in a coma for several days. She was hospitalized for a total of [-] days.After being discharged from the hospital, the hospital arranged for her to live in a nursing home, but the nursing home was broken and damp, and her daughter was unwilling, so she had to send Aunt Xie back to live in her own home.At present, a couple from mainland China are invited to take care of her.The lady lived there at night.Now I can walk a few steps with a steel frame (walker), and I spend most of my time in a wheelchair.Fortunately, Aunt Xie is usually in good health, otherwise it would be impossible to return to the current situation after this operation.Now the diet has been able to eat normal people's food.These are the situations that Mrs. Yan told me.Mom, write or tell your friends according to this!
Zumei sent this letter at the end of May this year. After I received it, I first sent it to Mr. Su Xuelin in Tainan, because they are the only remaining senior female writers in Taiwan and are good friends.

Looking at the situation of Mr. Bingying, it is both happy and sad. The joy is that her body has recovered under such circumstances. Originally, Mr. Bingying has been running around on the road of life with strong perseverance in this life. Mr. Liang Shiqiu said that she is a very A kind person is not bad at all.Now I can only hope that her brain power will gradually recover like her body.As I wrote this, I remembered another incident. In the first half of the year, my daughter-in-law came to Taiwan and told me about attending a rally in San Francisco. People talked about how they admired the 90-year-old Mr. Bingying, but it was her turn to stand up and speak. , She actually said that she was "80 years old" and other words, which shows that her memory is already poor!

Not long after I sent a letter to Mr. Su Xuelin, I received her reply. It turns out that Mr. Su wrote a letter to Bingying, asking Zumei to forward it. The letter reads as follows:

Bingying: hello

I am Su Xuelin, do you still remember?In the past, you and I corresponded frequently, but there was no word in the past three years. I don't know why?I heard that you fell again recently and went to the hospital, but you are better.Your sister, Mrs. Yan, also came to the United States to accompany you, and there is another Chinese couple serving you, so I am relieved.I also often wrestle and have been ill for nearly three years, but I hope you can write me a few words, and I want you to write them yourself.Looking forward to.That is to say, it is close to good.

Xue Linqi

1995.6.21
In order to prevent Bingying from forgetting her too, Mr. Su wrote "I am Su Xuelin" at the beginning.I also don't know what kind of reply I will get when I send out this letter. Who knows, after more than a week, Bingying's reply came, and it was indeed written by herself. She said:

Sister Xuelin: Hello, I am very glad to accept your letter!

Bingying may be unlucky this year, she often falls, what a bad luck!

Resting at home now, after receiving your letter, I know that you are not well recently, and I miss you very much.We often don't communicate, it's not good, sometimes I'm too uncomfortable, sometimes my body is too bad, I don't want to do anything, people are too lazy to be shameless, after that I have to cheer up to be human.

Sister Xuelin, please take care, don't overwork, let's communicate frequently in the future!I wish my sister health
Yumei Bingying Grass on July 7th

The so-called "frequent communication" is not difficult for Mr. Su. Mr. Su almost never replies, and the speed is so fast that no one can match it.Take the New Year's cards as an example, He Fan and I don't take the initiative to send out cards, but when people send cards, we will reply, polite!Only Mr. Su, an old man, has always taken the initiative to send greetings to Mr. Su, which made our couple feel embarrassed. So when it was time to celebrate the New Year last year, I reminded He Fan, "We must take the initiative to send greeting cards to Mr. Su this year, otherwise it would be too embarrassing." I'm sorry." So I made an exception and sent it first, but I received a letter from Mr. Su in a few days, it turned out that we met each other's greeting cards on the road!

Ling Shuhua

My article respecting the elderly was originally intended to write about Xie Bingying (90 years old), Xie Bingxin (96 years old) and Su Xuelin (1970 years old) who I know well and are currently living. In the photo, I accidentally found a group photo I took of Ling Shuhua and Xie Bingying in 24.I was very happy to take out this photo, and I couldn't help recalling it while looking at it. The scene 200 years ago flooded into my mind.In June of that year, the Ancient Painting Symposium of the "Palace Museum" was held in Taipei, and many scholars, painters, and experts from home and abroad were invited. Ms. Ling Shuhua came to participate in the ancient painting seminar.I am very excited, because Ling Shuhua was my favorite writer when I was enlightened to new literature and art in junior high school.Now that I hear that she will come to power, how can I not be happy.The meeting will be held in Zhongshan Building. I first contacted Zhang Xiuya, and she was also very excited, because we are both "Ling fans".In the tea party with [-] people, Zhang Xiuya and I were looking for Ling Shuhua.After finding it, it was Xie Bingying who asked her first: "Do you know me?" Ling Shuhua was stunned for a long time but didn't recognize her. I found it strange that they were female writers of the same generation!After explaining, Ling Shuhua held Bingying's hand and said, "You've lost a lot of weight! I can't even recognize you!" Ling Xie took a group photo, which was the photo I took for them during the meeting. .

Since then, Ling Shuhua and I have kept in touch with each other.She has always lived in the UK. Her first (and only) work "The Next Generation" published in Taiwan was sent to me by Xu Zhongpei, who was also in the UK at the time, and published in the monthly magazine "Pure Literature". of.With this level of literary and artistic acquaintance, I can be regarded as officially in contact with the favorite Ling Shuhua.In Taiwan, her old friend is Su Xuelin, they were in Wuchang together, and there is also a female writer Yuan Changying, they are called "Three Heroines on Luojia Mountain", which must be mentioned in historical literature.After she arrived in England, she wrote in English. In terms of research, she specialized in painting, because she is also a painter herself!Her writing in English was influenced and encouraged by Virginia Woolf. Woolf has always encouraged her to write in English, and said to write about things she is familiar with. This is the "Ancient Melodies" (Ancient Melodies) Here it comes.

In May 1990, I went back to my second hometown, Beijing.Only a one-week stay in Beijing is stressful enough.The Xia family used to be a big family in Beijing, and now there are still 5 or 21 family members in Beijing. They were very excited when I went. The family members from Tianjin and Zhenjiang also came to meet and kiss. When they were too busy, my nephew told me that Ling Shuhua was just I am sick in Shijingshan Hospital, and my nephew lives in that area, so I can accompany me to visit Ling Shuhua who is ill.Calculating time and other inconveniences, I finally sacrificed my last visit to the writer I had loved since I was young. Although it was a pity, I also felt that if I went to her when she was seriously ill, would I still be able to know me?Sure enough, when I left Beijing on the 1904st, she passed away the next day.I read the report and thought that she could return to Beijing at the age of [-] (she was born in [-]), and asked to go to several places (Beihai viewing, former residence Shijia Hutong), all of which achieved her goal, and spent her life in Beijing On my ninetieth birthday, I have no regrets in dying!It is a pity that the book "Ancient Rhyme", translated by a young friend Fu Guangming, was not published in Taiwan until after her death, and Ling Shuhua never saw it.

Su Xuelin

(End of this chapter)