It has been 8 years since Amy’s mother passed away. Every year for mothers day, Amy tells a story about her. Amy says that her mother is an Angel. This year, she had a dream about her mother in which she asked her mother if she likes the stories Amy writes about her. Her mother explains that god knows everything. You don’t have to say anymore. Amy wants to ask a question before her mother goes. She asks her Mom if she is a real angle. Her mom tells her, “You will find out for yourself”. Amy decided this year she would not write anything, but she looked for some pictures.
She found a picture from when she was six years old and her mother is 36. There was an eye clinic next door to their place in Shanghai in 1958. They had run a campaign against a certain eye disease that effected children. Amy and her mother were asked to model for the picture.
After Amy’s mother had lost the ability to speak, Amy visited her. She would hold a teddy bear and gesture to it to let Amy know she loved her. Amy suggests that, though she couldn’t speak, she still had a lot to say. “Especially the love, because the love never dies”. Amy posted the pictures on social networks.
When Amy was asked why there was no story this year, she explained the dream. One of Amy’s friends, who used to work for Stanford, told Amy about a friend who had written a book about her mother. When Amy read the book she was shocked that the book described a mother with no feeling, who’s relationship was strictly “class struggle” in the communist mindset. Amy marvels at how someone could raise a family within a Maoist framework.
Amy recalls the Rectification process starting in 1941 as removing peoples humanity. If your party allegiance comes before your family, you are going against humanity.
Amy describes her well educated grandfather who was involved in the building of several resorts near Beijing with British and American partners. Her mother went to a French school and lived a privileged life. Though at age 15, some very negative things happened to her.
When Amy escaped to Hunan, to get away from the communist party officer who tried to sexually assault her, she was put in jail, but then escaped to go back home to Shanghai. Without her work permit, for three years, she was a fugitive. She even hid from the police. She eventually attempted to apply for a resident permit in Shanghai.
Amy’s mother was mostly a home maker and a very gentile person. Amy’s mother went to get Amy’s residential permit back. Amy asserts that because a person is gentile does not mean they are weak. Amy’s mother decided she was going to get the permit or not return. Her mother did not come back for 8 months, facing daily humiliation and not giving up. Amy says that she was a soldier with inner strength drawn from unconditional love.