King Shu Li

King Shu Li, our beloved mother, was born on March 11, 1916 in the province of Canton, China. She was the eldest of four children and, like many other females in her generation, only attended a local village grade school for a couple of years. In 1935, she married our late father, Shu Kuang Li, and became a homemaker.

In 1938, after the start of World War II, our father volunteered to join the Chinese Air Force as an engineer. During the course of the war, the family was forced to evacuate their homes multiple times to flee to safety – they took with them three of their children, I-Win, I-Chung, and Gweilan. Their eldest daughter, Reilan, stayed in Canton with her grandmother. God’s grace protected the family as they fled by foot for over 10 days through the cold winter, passing by countless bridges and roads destroyed by bombings and narrowly escaping attacks by Japanese troops. Every time our mother shared memories from these terrifying days, tears would well up in her eyes. After the end of the war, the family continued to uproot their lives as our father’s job called him to help rebuild different cities across China. During this time, our parents gave birth to

Shianglan in Hunan and I-Hung in Hangzhou.

In 1948, the family fled to Taiwan after the Communist party took rule. In Taiwan, they lived in Taipei and Shinju, where they gave birth to I-Shin and Shinlan for a total of eight children. The large family of 11 (including eight children and our grandmother) lived together in a converted police station. Our father’s modest military salary was not enough to support the needs of the family; so, our mother creatively thought of ways to supplement the family’s income while helping others. As an animal lover, she raised farm animals. With only her experience from delivering five of her own children, she served the villagers as a midwife. As a result of our parents’ hard work and dedication, all eight children received excellent educations and many went abroad to continue their studies.

Our parents left Taiwan in 1978 to help the children living abroad start families of their own. Wherever their children needed their help, they went. They loved spending time with their many grandchildren. Over the next three decades, they lived across the globe, from South Africa to Canada. In the United States, they lived in Colorado, California, Illinois and Texas. The couple also enjoyed traveling and our mother often shared stories from her adventures around the world.

Since 2001, after the passing of our father, we have been blessed with the chance to now take care of our mother after she has taken care of us for so many years. We will always miss her, but her laughter, strength, and fighting spirit will stay in our hearts and thoughts forever. We know that she is now in Heaven looking down on us and watching over us.

我們的母親

母親梁金秀，1916年3月11日生於廣東省梅縣三角地。是家中的長女，下有一妹二弟。童年時在家鄉就讀。以當時的風氣，較重男輕女，故在小學僅讀了幾年就輟學。1935年與父親黎曙光結婚，婚後一直留在家中相夫教子。 1938年對日抗戰爆發後，許多知識青年紛紛投效軍旅為國效力。父親也放棄中學教職，投入空軍。母親則隨著軍眷往後方遷移。當時身邊帶著長子怡文，次子怡忠，二女桂蘭（长女瑞蘭留在家鄉陪伴外婆）往後方廣西，貴州，雲南等地遷移。沿途許多道路橋梁被日機炸毀破壞。母親在這艱巨的環境裡，帶著子女三人，逃難, 尤以到贵陽的十余天至为艰辛。这期间身心備受创傷，一生沒齒難忘。

抗戰勝利後隨著父親的工作關係，曾先後在湖南，杭州，南京等地短暫居住。在此期間三女湘蘭三子怡杭相繼出世。1948年大陸山河變色，政府準備遷台。父親又因工作關係於1948年十一月全家由南京遷移到台灣。先後在台北，新竹，定居。於此期間四男怡新四女新蘭亦相繼出世。此時家中除父母兩人外，還有外婆及子女八人（四男四女）總共11人的大家庭，而兄弟姊妹中最大與最小的相差16歲。從高中，初中，小學到奶娃娃都有。家中正需要錢用，只靠父親軍中薪俸是不夠的。此時母親祇好擔負起家中生產副業的責任，來補助家用。舉凡養豬，養雞，種菜，替鄰居接生，她都做過。如此辛苦了十幾年才把八個子女一個個養大成人，受良好的教育，並分赴國外深造。

1978年前後子女在國外受教育的大都完成，並就地就業，結婚生子。母親又為了子女能夠安心工作，第三代能有較妥善的照顧，在1981年以後，大部分的時間都在國外，舉凡南非，加州，芝加哥，丹佛，德州，溫哥華，她都住過。子女那裡需要她，她就到那裡去幫助，像是充滿活力的救火隊員。

母親年輕时随夫婿四處奔波，劳苦撫養子女成人；中年信奉耶穌基督，受洗成為天主教友，福臨全家；老年兒孫满堂，母慈子孝，颐享天年。如今已卸下世上重擔，安息主懷，永享屬天平安喜樂，阿門。