The recent situation of Grandma Gao Yaojie

Huixin (December 2015)

A friend asked me to record the recent situation of Grandma Gao Yaojie. He said: We need to regularly pass on the news of Grandma Gao's situation to people in China, so that people don't forget her. So, in the midst of "a thousand busy", I wrote this note, hoping that more people would know her current situation and join the ranks of volunteers.

In 2004, when I was a high school student, I met the old man with my whole class on the television in the high school classroom. I remember that at that time, I did not understand the political logic of "moving China", and I cried so much that my tears and snot were difficult to control. Later, when I came to New York to study, I learned that the old man was also here, and I heard that she was in need of help, but I never found the opportunity. In March of this year, through the introduction of a friend, I began to visit her regularly to help her with daily life and writing chores. Grandma is 88 years old this year. Using such a fleshy word as "grandma" made me hesitate. But her old man's slowness and kindness are indeed like my grandmother, who has been carefully accompanying me for more than ten years, giving me a very kind feeling.

The elderly live alone in New York and need to walk in a wheelchair. During the day, there were nurses to help her cook, buy vegetables, and clean, and at night she was left alone. I basically spend two hours a week at Grandma Gao's house. Over the past eight months, I have gradually gained some understanding of her personality, habits and sustenance. Grandma is still worried about the AIDS-infected people and orphans, and often shares the relevant news from time to time, and asks me to help her save it carefully. In November, she told me that it was cold, and that of the more than 600 AIDS orphans she knew, more than a dozen had died at once. For a while, we all felt very sad. Another most important thing is another book she is working on, on the subject of the political movements of the Mao era that she remembers. According to my impression when I helped her sort out the manuscript last time, if I remember correctly, there are already more than 30 articles, nearly 200,000 words. I read about half of them carefully, and in helping her proofread and format, I also took a vivid history lesson. The book is more like a record of life: just the people Grandma Gao knew or met, I don't know how many people have gone through a life of lamentation with the waves of politics, or lost their lives at a young age. Before reading these articles, suffering and abuse were very abstract words for me. Through these words, I returned to that time and again, experiencing sadness, anger, and absurdity. In the midst of repression and tears, I understood the value of this book even more. It makes it impossible for you to continue to numb and makes you aware of the rights and dignity of every life.

Because she can't type, Grandma Gao's books are all carved out by her with a very small writing board. I had proposed that she dictate that I would help her type, but it didn't work. She was older, her memories were incoherent, and she often remembered to write a little bit. Grandma was very diligent, and in the first few months of my visit to her, when she was still in good health, she often wrote two articles a week, and always blamed herself for writing too slowly. Once, unwell, she lay in bed and insisted on writing a long paragraph on the writing board. She felt obligated to put down that historical record and not to let it be silently annihilated like that. She always said that I didn't know how long I would live, so I had to write it down quickly. I often marvel at her seriousness, self-discipline, time-saving, and sense of purpose, and then understand very well why it is she and not others who have done such great things. Now that the book is almost finished, she has written down almost everything she can remember, and she and I, who helped proofread, feel a great sense of accomplishment.

In recent months, Grandma's health has become more and more unhealthy. At one point her legs and feet were so swollen that she could barely sit, so she spent most of her time in bed. I came back from home over the summer and learned that she had become very sleepy. During that time, she often slept too much and urinated on the bed at night. Another time, she went to the bathroom at midnight and fell asleep on the toilet, until she woke up at three o'clock. As a result, she has a greater sense of urgency to reach the end of her life and writes more diligently. Recently, her blood pressure has become very high and she needs to take her blood pressure regularly countless times a day. In the most painful and difficult times, Grandma Gao often said, "What do you mean when you say I'm alive?" It's such a big place all day long, and I can't get out. At such an old age, I was alone at night. But her pessimism was always temporary, and she often quickly returned to writing, watching the news, and collecting materials. She also maintained a jealous and lively personality, often complaining angrily of social injustice, laughing because of funny things, or shedding tears because of sad things.

Before going to Grandma Gao's house, I heard a lot of comments about her, both positive and negative. So I've been waiting, hoping that one day I can make my own judgment based on what I know about her. Eight months on, I have to honestly say that I think she is a great and lovely person: she is superior in ability, character, and social care. Although she is nearly ninety years old, Grandma Gao is not confused at all, and her memory is amazing. She began to learn to use a computer at the age of 79, although she could not type, and tried to learn the copy-paste function and failed, but she could basically master many computer functions. Her political views, whether others agree or not, are based on her honest judgment. She feels that the regime is good and bad, expressed truthfully and recklessly. She is extremely demanding of a person's "honesty" and "simplicity", and she hates several people: corrupt officials, liars, and extravagant and wasteful people. Before going to her house, I heard a friend say that because she had been cheated many times because of her AIDS work, Grandma Gao was a little suspicious and not easy to trust people. I did find that her harsh integrity and extremely high moral standards, combined with the values of the old times, sometimes kept her away from some of the younger ones.

However, she has complete trust and respect for the people she trusts. Her kindness to others is reflected in many ways. Every time we went to her house, she asked the nurse to buy us melons; the neighbors moved to leave her small things, and she carefully kept them for us; knowing that we were busy, she was very careful not to let us stay too long each time. Once I helped her with a few little things, she said, "Okay, I've got these jobs for you today." I know you're so busy I can't put all the work on you! "Grandma Gao is also very meticulous. When she saw news or materials about AIDS, she had to ask her to copy them into word and sort them into storage. Her manuscript must have been in 14th Song script, 1.5 times the line spacing... Because of these cute things about her, although my schedule is very tight, every time I go to her house, I feel full and happy, and I feel worth the trip when I come back.

There are many students who have visited Grandma Gao one after another, but not many have really persevered. After the freshness of the "celebrity" dissipates, the daily chores are naturally boring and time-consuming. Now there are 5 people who help Grandma Gao steadily, a professor, and me and three other young girls. One of the girls went every Wednesday and the other two girls went on weekends, and my time was getting more and more irregular, but sooner or later I tried to go every week. The four of us young people help Grandma Gao do three main things: handle English letters related to rent, medical care, and social welfare, help respond to Chinese or English emails, and revise the manuscript of her book. Whenever I helped her reply to a longer email and listened to the sound of my snapping and typing, Grandma Gao couldn't help but sigh and say: This email has changed my own words, and I have to write all day. English mail is the most troublesome, especially when it comes to helping Grandma Gao deal with housing authorities, insurance companies, or government agencies. In fact, I also had a headache, but every time I also hardened my scalp and successfully handled it. Interestingly, the four young people who persevered were all girls. I thought to myself: Where did the boys go? Probably "do big things" went.

Today, under the remote guidance of a professor, I helped Grandma Gao fill out the recertification form for food voucher qualifications. You must understand how complicated the U.S. government's forms are. The point is: even though I already knew that everything grandma gao lived in the United States was personally helped by the professor to settle and take care of it, I was still shocked by him today. The professor, who was already in her seventies, not only knew how much Grandma Gao rented every month and how much electricity she paid, but even she only had a fan and no air conditioning. According to Grandma, when she first settled down in the United States, the professor came to see her several times a week, then once a week, then once a month, and then whenever he had time. I lamented the professor's dedication to his time and his lack of resistance to the trivialities of life. In an elite university where everyone cherishes the golden time and despises service and even teaching, how broad a mind and how high a realm does he have to do this? Spinning like a top and watching my classmates "distracted" thesis, I occasionally ask myself if I should continue. However, between going and not going, I chose the former almost every time. In such a busy city, who is not busy? The point is, what do you really think is more important in your heart? Meaningful things can't wait. If you can see your own responsibility above the needs of others, then the service will only happen now, not in the future. That's how Grandma Gao and the professor's life came.

Zhang Beichuan explained: I and some friends have always been concerned about the life, work and physical condition of the elderly Gao Yaojie in the distance. Recently, I received an article by Huixin, a student from our country who went to the United States, "The Recent Situation of Grandma Gao Yaojie". With Huixin's consent, I revised some of the words in the article according to my reading habits and published them on my personal blog for sharing by people in China who are concerned about the recent situation of the elderly Gao Yaojie.

I sincerely thank Huixin, thank you to this kind girl, and thank you to several Chinese girls who helped the elderly Gao Yaojie with her. In you and many young contemporary Chinese, I see the glory and hope of our nation!