Hongyi Fu

My mother, Fu Hongyi, was born on August 19, 1937 in wartime Beiping. She was the eldest child of Fu Zongtai and Fu Lanxiu; her sister Fu Hongqin was born in 1941, her second sister Hongming Fu in 1950, and her brother Fu Hongda in 1956. She was cherished by her parents and lovingly brought up in a large family in a traditional Beiping courtyard home. She spent her childhood, teenage years, and youth free from worry about food and clothing, graduating from Shanguosi Primary School, Beijing No. 5 Girls' Middle School, and the Beijing Institute of Chemical Technology. After graduation she was employed in the laboratory of Beijing Chemical Plant. At the age of 22, she met and fell in love with my father, Zhou Zonghan. She married at the age of 23, and worked hard to raise two children with him. During the Cultural Revolution my parents faced inhuman treatment. The Red Guards raided the house; my father was forcibly taken away, locked up in a windowless room, and faced brutal “struggle sessions.” My mother stood by him steadfastly. I remember one day when I was five years old and my mother took me along with her to sit fearlessly in the classroom building at the China Conservatory of Music, insisting on seeing my father, for fear that he would be beaten to death. The Red Guards tried to drive us away, even dousing us with water, but she didn’t back down, and they finally led us to a dim room with boarded-up windows to see my father; only then did we give in and leave. In the 1970s, my father was sent to a labor camp and was not allowed to go home for four years. My frail mother singlehandedly shouldered the heavy burden of raising two small children. Facing tremendous risks, she took me and my four year old brother to visit my father at the May Seventh Cadre School in Junliangcheng in Tianjin. While working an onerous schedule at the Xisi and Di’anmen food markets, she took care of both her parents and her siblings. She went to great lengths to seek help for her younger sister, who had been sent down to the countryside in Shanxi and was suffering from phlebitis—finding doctors, procuring medicine, and exhaustively pursuing every possible connection in order to have her return to Beijing. In the coldest depths of winter she rode her bicycle for nearly ten hours out to the suburbs and back again in order to arrange a job for her younger brother. When my mother was 43 years old, my father died suddenly of a stroke, and it was my mother who single handedly supported both me and my brother through the completion of our college educations. Iron-willed, she at one point worked three jobs at the same time—as a secretary at the Xicheng District Business Office, as a copyist for the Encyclopedia Sinica, and as after-school caregiver for one of the neighbor’s children. When my younger brother and I had finally both completed college, she continued to support my brother through graduate school. Eight years after my father’s death, my mother had the good fortune to meet my revered stepfather, Lou Enxian, and the two of them spent over twenty years together. This was a stable and peaceful period in her life, for which I am profoundly thankful. My mother was diligent and thrifty, kind and self-disciplined, respectful to her parents, supportive of her siblings, and loving to her children; she took pleasure in helping others and treated everyone around her well. After becoming a grandmother, she wholeheartedly supported the education of her three grandchildren. I have always taken my mother as my model in life, and am proud to be her daughter! She made a point of refraining from burdening her children’s lives, and supported herself and lived independently. Late in life, living alone up on the 17th floor of her apartment building, she faced the frightful pandemic on her own! But she still taught me to remember all the relatives and friends who reached out to help. Last year she became seriously ill with dystrophic anemia and received three emergency blood transfusions in five weeks. Finally unable to take care of herself, she left her homeland to come live with me in the United States. In the most difficult period of my life, my mother and I had only one another to rely on, facing life’s ups and downs and its hardships hand in hand. I am grateful to my mother for giving me this last opportunity to support and serve her, and only regret that I could not do even more.—As my mother lingered on her sickbed, she felt the deepest gratitude to her son-in-law and his mother, her grandson and granddaughter, and the family dog for their warmth and affection, and was delighted whenever she had the opportunity to get together with members of my husband’s family. Visits from friends from abroad always brought her particular happiness; as she said many times, “How good it is to have love!”

My mother passed away on the afternoon of June 12, 2025. May her road be smooth, and may she be free from illness, pain, and suffering in Heaven! I miss you, Mother, and regret that I couldn't take care of you longer. You will always live in my heart and in the hearts of all those who respect you and love you!

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母亲大人1937年8月19日出生在战乱中北平 ，被父母视为珍宝 ，精心养育在北平传统四合院儿大家庭中 。渡过了衣食无忧童年（毕业善国寺小学）、少年（北京女五中）、青年（毕业于北京化工学院 ）。后就职于北京化工厂实验室。22岁与我父亲周宗汉大人相识相恋 ，23岁成婚 ，共同辛勤养育两名子女 。文化大革命期间 ，父母历经非人待遇，红卫兵抄家 ，父亲被强行掠走关小黑屋 ，残酷批斗 ，母亲不离不弃 。记得有一天 ，母亲带着五岁的我 ，无所畏惧坐在中国音乐学院教学楼里 ，坚决要求见父亲一面 ，怕父亲被殴打致死 。我们母女被红卫兵放水冲击，怹也毫不退让，终于领着我在窗子都被木板封死昏暗房间里看到了父亲 ，才删肯罢休离开。七十年代父亲下放劳改 ，四年不准回家 ，母亲用怹柔弱的肩膀一人挑起两个幼小孩子生活重担 ，冒着重重风险带着我和四岁弟弟，去天津军粮城五七干校探望父亲。在西四和地安门副食商场繁重劳动中 ，上敬养父母 ，下关照兄弟姐妹 。历尽种种磨难 ，帮助在山西插队患静脉炎小妹妹 ，寻医找药 ，磨破铁鞋联系各种关系，使她重返京城 。在数九寒天骑着自行车近十个小时 ，往返京郊 ，为小弟弟工作奔波 。母亲四十三周岁那年父亲突然脑淤血过世 ，我与弟弟都是母亲一人 ，坚持供我们读完大学 。要强的母亲节衣缩食，曾经同时坚守三份工作 ，西城区商务办公室文员 ，在家为中国大百科全书抄写稿件 ，照顾邻居一位小朋友放学后吃住 。我们姐弟终于得以完成大学学业，后又支持弟弟读完研究生 。母亲在父亲去世八年后 ，有幸认识了我非常尊敬的继父楼恩贤大人 ，二老共同携手走过二十几年人生坦途 。为母亲一生有这段平静安稳日子，甚感欣慰 。母亲勤俭持家 、善良自律 、孝敬父母 、帮衬弟妹 、疼爱子女 ，助人为乐，善待身边每个人 。做祖母后 ，仍然为三个孙儿鼎力助学 。 为女儿我做出平凡人生中最优秀榜样 ，以母亲大人为荣傲 ！怹一直坚持不扰乱儿女生活 ，自食其力，独立居住 。晚年老人家独居在十七楼上，单独面对恐怖疫情 ！但怹仍然教导我铭记 ，所有对怹伸出过援手的亲朋好友 。直至去年母亲病重营养不良性贫血，在血色素仅仅4情况下 ，五周内紧急输血三次 ，实属无法生活自理 。遂随我远离故土来美生活 。在我人生最低谷时期，唯有母女相伴相知 ，其中冷暖困难携手面对。感恩🙏母亲给了我这个最后承欢侍奉膝下机会 ，非常遗憾未能做得更好 更更好……………… 母亲缠绵病榻，深情感谢亲家母、女婿、孙子、孙女儿和小毛孩儿真情疼爱，每次与我夫君家人团聚也让怹欢喜。在异国他乡朋友们相助探望，都使母亲倍感温暖，母亲多次说：“有愛真好！”

2025年6月12日下午过世 ，愿天堂没有病痛 、伤害 一路走好！🙏🕯️ 想念妈妈 ，遗憾没能更长时间照顾您，您永远活在我及所有尊敬您 、热愛您的人们心中 ！🙏泪叩