In life, we are not given a choice of who our father, mother, brother or sister may be. To start with, if one has good parents, they are blessed. In addition, if one has good brothers and sisters, they are even more blessed. These are blessings and we had no choice but if I was to choose someone for a sister, it would be Peggy.
On July 10, 1936, the stillness of the air of the summer on the Yuen farm was broken by my eldest brother, Harry who excitedly announced, “Pete, we have a Visitor, she is in the house.” Upon hearing that, I was curious as to who our visitor is. Going back into the house, I noticed that our “Visitor “ is a baby, not just visiting but she is part of our family. That baby that we welcomed into the Yuen Family was Peggy. At that time, I was 8 years old.
Through the years, Peggy and I had a good rapport and had a good sister/brother relationship as we had similar ideals in fairness. Fairness came from the good role modeling by our parents. Fairness averted possible fights as there are no losers, it is a win/win for both. As it turns out, I cannot recall having any arguments with Peggy throughout the years.
Peggy spent years on the farm on north Jacombs Road in Richmond where IKEA is not located. The north Jacombs Road was a private road at the time. Planks were used for the road and maintenance was done by the Yuen family and another farmer that used the road.
By the early 40’s our father had health issues and moved to east 60th avenue in Vancouver. Peggy moved into Vancouver also and attended John Oliver high School and in the evenings attended Chinese school in Chinatown.
On May 17, 1955 Peggy married Pingie Soon and they had 65 years together. That is pretty good and better than most marriages.
Peggy was neat, resourceful and a good cook, like her mother. Often, she was like the “Big Sister” to me even though she is 8 years younger than me. Often, she is the take charge person in the family.
Peggy and Pingie loved to travel and did a lot of it. Upon arriving at home after a trip, they would soon be planning another trip. Of the many trips that Peggy and Pingie took, I was only with them on one single, memorable trip and that was to Iceland in the summer of 2019. They are a fun couple to travel with.
Peggy passed peacefully away on February 15th, 2021 in the presence of family. She had many friends and she touched the lives of many. She will be sorely missed by those that knew and loved her. Condolences to Pingie.
“Rest In Peace, Peggy”
Loved, missed and remembered by brother, Pete.
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