Mei-Nien Chiu

Mrs. Mei-Nien Tang Chiu, a centenarian, was born in 1923 in a Hakka village in Gongguan Township, Miaoli, Taiwan. Over the course of her century-long life, she lived in Miaoli, Taipei, and finally, the United States. She survived the ravages of malaria when she was young and experienced the horror of 1935 Shinchiku-Taichu Earthquake, the deadliest in Taiwan’s history; she lived through air raids and bombings at the end of World War II; and she witnessed Japan's unconditional surrender and the relocation of the Nationalist Government to Taiwan, the chaos of changing dynasties.

In the post-Second World War era, when life was difficult and supplies were scarce, her husband worked in Taipei and she stayed behind in her hometown to take care of her parents-in-law and her three young children. After her children grew up and started families of their own, she devoted herself to helping take care of her grandchildren, only retiring after they had all grown up. When her husband fell ill later in his life, she took care of him. After he passed away in Los Angeles in 2004, she settled down in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her daughter. There, she took good care of herself and maintained daily exercise and a healthy diet. She read newspapers, kept diaries, recited prayers silently, and sang children's songs. Though her body was aging, she was still tough and strong. At age 88, she climbed The Great Wall and strolled the Forbidden City. Fiercely independent and self-sufficient until the end, it was only in her final five years that she needed a walker to move around.

Faced with hardships, she was both firm and optimistic, like a winter plum that endures the changing seasons knowing that winter will pass and spring will eventually come. She watched the ups and downs of the world with serenity and accepted things that she couldn’t change. The average life expectancy for people born in Taiwan in 1923 was 43 years for women and 39 years for men. At over 101 years old, she far exceeded both those lifespans. She was born in the cold winter of 1923 and passed away peacefully in the late spring of 2024, when hundreds of flowers were blooming. After a life of hard work, she found happiness in her old age. She might have thought she was ordinary, yet she left behind a most extraordinary legacy. Her beautiful smile and dignified, loving face will remain in everyone's hearts forever.

邱湯梅年女士

百𡻕人瑞邱湯梅年女士1923年生於台灣苗栗的公舘鄉客家庒， 那時臺灣還在日本的統治。百年旅程，走過了苗栗的鄕村，台北的繁華，最後到了美國。她年輕時候親身經歷了瘧疾的肆虐，體驗了1935 年的台灣中部大地震的恐怖災情； 也經歷了二次大戰末期的空襲轟炸，目睹了戰爭的恐怖，見證了日本無條件投降，以及國民政府遷臺，改朝換代的混亂。

二次大戰結束，在戰後生活艱困，物資的缺乏的日子裡，丈夫在台北工作，她獨當一面，留在家鄉，上有公婆仕奉，下有三個幼兒女要扶養。兒女長大成人成家立業後，她又全心投入幫忙照顧孫子女。從無怨言。孫子女長大，終於可享清福。但丈夫晩年生病時，又是靠她全力照顧，二十年前丈夫在洛杉磯過世後，2004 年，81 𡻕的她搬來華府定居。她養身有術，從不懈怠，生活能自理，起居作息有規律，每天讀報，寫日記，默禱，唱兒歌，做軟體操，雖然身體漸漸衰老但還是健朗，88 𡻕還能爬上了長城，徒步紫禁城，直到最近五年脊椎出現問題，不良於行時才真正的老了。

人生不如意事十常八九，面對艱難困苦，風霜雨雪，她始終態度堅定樂觀，像寒冬的臘梅逆來順受，冬去春終會來 ；以平靜如水的心看起起伏伏的大千世界，接受自己無力改變的事務。1923年在台灣出生的人民的平均壽命，女性是43 歲，男性39 歲。她已經遠遠超越了平均壽命的兩倍多。她在1923年寒冬出生，在2024年百花齊放的晚春安詳辭世，這正如她的一生過程，艱苦奮鬥終於迎來𤌴爛的晚年。她，最平凡人，留下不平凡的痕跡，她的美麗的笑容，端莊，慈愛的容顏以及高尚的情操將永遠留在大家的心中。

A funeral service for Mei-Nien will be held Monday, June 3, 2024 at 11:00 AM at Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home, 11800 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904 in the Legacy Room. Following the service, there will be a light lunch in the catering room.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to your favorite charity in memory of Mei-Nien.