Author: Wu Yuan-Tang 吳淵塘
This mother is a retired homemaker who is seventy-one years old this year.
After graduating from elementary school, she left home to work in another town. In those days, girls were often taught that “knowing how to cook and take care of the household was enough,” and education was not valued. Yet in her heart, she always believed that knowledge could give a person strength. It was just that, at the time, reality weighed heavier than dreams.
At the age of twenty, she married her cousin, who was five years older than her. We had little money then. The wedding was simple and plain. No glamorous gown, only the heartfelt blessings of family. Her husband was an honest man. Although his work was physically demanding, he always treated her with care and affection. After marriage, they had three children. Life was hard, but the laughter of the family often made her feel that no amount of hardship was too much. Those were sweet years.
However, fate rarely allows people to live in peace for long. In the ninth year of their marriage, her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Even then, he continued working at construction sites and did not stop hospital treatments. One day, she received a call saying that her husband had fallen from a building at work. Although he was resuscitated, his physical condition deteriorated greatly. She will never forget a conversation in the hospital, when her husband spoke to her in weak Taiwanese and said, “If I don’t work, what will you all eat, sand?” Even while lying in a hospital bed, he was still worried about the family’s living expenses.
Although his injuries healed, his illness continued to worsen. He was hospitalized long-term, and there was no one to take care of the children. When her husband was thirty-nine years old, he succumbed to the disease and passed away. Relatives urged her to remarry, saying that it was too hard for a woman to live without a husband, and that children needed a “father.” But she knew that once she remarried, her three children would very likely be sent away to be raised by others. Quietly, she made a vow in her heart. No matter how hard it was, she would raise her children with her own hands.
And so, day by day, she endured and pressed on. As the children gradually grew up, she still remembers the winter when her second child was in his first year of senior high school. After participating in a school activity, he suddenly began to feel pain in his thigh muscles. At first, they thought he was just overly tired. Unexpectedly, after being taken to the hospital, even before the official report came out, he was transferred directly to the intensive care unit. The doctor said, “It’s a malignant tumour. The prognosis is not optimistic.” She nearly collapsed on the spot.
Each day, she could only wait for visiting hours. Watching the once sunny, handsome boy turn into a patient swollen all over, she cried almost every day. During that time, she often went to church and asked fellow believers to pray with her. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Holding firmly to her faith, she prayed together with the church community for God’s healing. As everyone prayed, her child began to expel large amounts of fluid due to edema, miraculously turning from critical condition to stability. Soon after, he was transferred to a general ward. This experience became an unforgettable miracle in her life.
After three years of fluctuating illness, her child finally completed treatment and returned to school. He later successfully completed graduate studies and now works as an engineer at a medical equipment company. Her eldest child has a stable life, is married, and has children. Her youngest child, having lacked companionship during childhood, is slightly less stable, but all three children are filial. Every year, they travel together as a family, and occasionally they also go abroad with relatives.
Now, her daily life is simple and peaceful. In the mornings, she goes to the market to buy groceries; in the afternoons, she makes tea and watches television; occasionally, she goes to church to chat with old friends. As she grows older, she experiences occasional aches and pains, and her memory is not as sharp as before. But as long as she can hear her children come home each day and call out “Mom,” her heart feels at ease.
For this seventy-one-year-old mother, there are no grand wishes, only the hope that her children will be safe and healthy, and that she herself can travel happily. All the hardships, tears, and struggles of the past have now transformed into gentle memories.
這位母親是一個已經退休的家庭主婦，今年七十一歲。
她在小學畢業後便離家到外地工作。那個年代，女孩子多被教導「會煮飯、會顧家就
好」，讀書並不被重視。但她心裡始終相信，知識能賦予人力量，只是那時候，現實比夢想
更沉重。
二十歲那年，她嫁給大五歲的表哥。那時我們沒什麼錢，婚禮簡單樸素，沒有華麗的禮
服，只有家人滿滿的祝福，先生是個老實人，做工雖然辛苦，卻始終對她呵護有加。婚後育
有三個子女，生活雖然清苦，但一家人的笑聲，常讓她覺得再多辛勞也值得，是一個甜美的
時光。
然而，命運從不輕易也不讓人太安穩。結婚第九年，先生被診斷出癌症時，先生仍是到
工地工作，醫院的治療也沒有中斷，有一天接到電話，說先生在工地意外墜樓，雖然搶救回
來，但身體狀況卻也遠遠大不如前，她永遠記得在醫院的那次對話，先生用孱弱的台語對她
說：「我若無做工，你們要吃沙。」即便是住在醫院，心裡仍惦記著家裡的生活開銷。
傷雖癒合了，但病情也逐漸惡化，先生長期住院，孩子也無人照料。在先生三十九歲那
年，不敵病魔的摧殘離世了。親戚們勸她改嫁，說女人沒丈夫難熬，孩子也需要「父親」。
但她知道，一旦再婚，三個孩子很可能被送去給別人照顧。她在心裡暗暗的說——再苦，也
要親手把孩子帶大。
日子就這樣一步一步撐過去，孩子漸漸長大，她仍記得老二高一那年冬天，參加學校活
動後，突然大腿肌肉開始疼痛。原以為只是太累了，沒曾想去到醫院檢查後，還未看到正式
報告時，便直接轉入加護病房，醫生說：「是惡性腫瘤，恐怕不樂觀。」她當場幾乎站不住
腳。
每天只能等探視時間，看著原本陽光帥氣的少年變成全身浮腫的病人，她幾乎天天以淚
洗面，那段時間，她常去教會，請同靈代禱。詩篇46篇第1節說：「神是我們的避難所、是
我們的力量、是我們在患難中隨時的幫助。」她憑著信仰堅定信心，與教會同靈一同祈求神
的醫治，就在大家禱告的同時，孩子也因水腫開始大量脫水，奇蹟般地轉危為安，不久後轉
入一般病房。這段經歷，成為她一生難忘的神蹟。
歷經三年病情的時好時壞，孩子終於完成治療，重返校園，後來順利讀完研究所，如今
在一家醫療設備公司擔任工程師。老大生活穩定，已婚育子；老么因童年缺乏陪伴，狀況稍
差，但三個孩子都很孝順，每年陪伴出遊，偶爾也會與親戚一同出國旅遊。
如今，她的日常生活簡易而平靜，早上去市場買菜，下午泡茶、看電視，偶爾到教會與
老朋友聊天。隨著年齡增長，身體偶有病痛，記憶也不如從前，但只要每天能聽到孩子回家
叫一聲「媽」，她的心就覺得安穩。
對這位七十一歲的母親而言，沒有什麼大願望，只希望孩子們平安健康，自己能開心旅
遊。那些曾經的苦、淚與掙扎，如今都化作一段段溫柔的回憶。