General

Last Friday, my mother-in-law passed away. This writing is in memory of her.

My mother-in-law participated in the construction of the biggest oil refinery factory in the province of Hunan in the 1970s. She was one of the first contractors to move to a big oil city in the north of China. They started to work from a giant field where there was nothing to use, everything needed to be created from zero. Her team built roads, installed oil filter machines, pipes and oil ports.

There were many difficulties that she needed to face, especially because she had a baby during that time. Even with the challenges, which were really hard, she always remained optimistic, worked hard, kept smiling, and lived through them. It is because of the efforts of people like her that the oil refinery became a major oil supplier in the middle of China.

After she retired in the 1990’s, she worked as an assistant at a child care center. We advised her not to work hard, just to live a relaxing life, but she said no because she liked to show her value. Even though the child care work was simple, she enjoyed it and had fun with the children.

My mother-in-law was like the typical Chinese, just like 99% of the population, many people like her had huge success in life during the past 30 years. She will always live in our hearts, looking at us, and motivating us for a bigger future.