Lai Chu Ng

1925-2021

First, we want to thank everyone for coming to this farewell gathering for our beloved mother, Lam Ng Lai Chu. She went home to be with our Lord at around noon on July 12, 2021. It is with mixed emotions that we all are saying good-bye to her, and yet at the same time to celebrate her full and productive life for the past 95 years. We have mixed emotions because, on one hand, we all missed her kind, friendly, and tender smile. But then on the other hand, we know that she is now in a better place with our Lord, where there is no more tears or pain. No more suffering from pain, unbearable itchiness all over her body, and at times unable to eat.

Born on November 28, 1925, our mother came from a family in Taishan, China. In WWII when the Japanese invaded China, mom could not continue her education. Still, her desire to learn and to better educate herself did not deter. She knew well the importance of education. This became the foundation of her goal to ensure that all her children would receive a good education. Hopefully, we have not disappointed her. We are all grateful for her encouragement and support in helping us to achieve our goals as well as our successful professional careers.

Our mother was always available and ready to offer help to others. In the 1940’s, as a teenager, she had the heavy burden of caring for all the other family members. It was her nature to volunteer to help others with totally no expectations in return. She practiced that throughout her entire life. She got married in 1941. In 1948, she moved to Hong Kong with her family. She continued to help managing the family business. In the 1970’s, our father fell ill and was regularly hospitalized for extended periods of time. She had to manage the family-owned retail business and took care of our father at the same time. There was never a moment that she complained about anything, even though there could be many reasons for her to do so. Her kindness as well as love, care and sacrifices for her family was highly regarded and respected by her neighbors and relatives. Her priority was always her children. Despite the burden of caring for the family business and our father, she never lost focus on our schooling, health, and well-being. I remember many years ago when Tim, Flora and Wayne needed hospital stays for various issues, mom was there providing nutritious food and good care to help them for their speedy recoveries. Her extra efforts in searching and applying for the kids’ admissions to good secondary schools in Hong Kong set up the good foundations for her children in education. Thus, we were able to achieve good college education and successful careers later in life. Therefore we were truly very fortunate and blessed with mom’s proactive support in our earlier years.

In 1991, she retired from the family business and moved to the United States so she could be with her children. When her children started to build a family and have children of their own, she got an additional role of becoming a loving grandmother. Flora had children first in Hong Kong. Mom was active in helping Flora and her children Shu-yun, Wendy and Raymond. Then, Ken and Margie had their twins, Andrew, and Elizabeth, in 1988. It was a difficult pregnancy, but mom was always there taking care of Margie and the pre-maturely born baby twins. Her love for all her grandchildren is forever wedged in their hearts. Later, she moved to Los Angeles to live with Wayne and Ana. When Samantha was born, she showed the same boundless love and care. When Katie started her family, again mom was there to make sure that Katie, Bryce and Justin were well taken care of. She was always available and never a moment she would give less than a 100% effort. To that, we are all grateful. None of us could have asked for a better mother, grandmother, or great grandmother.

There were also some lighter side with our mom too. Caring for five children and helping the family business was without saying very tiresome and difficult. For relaxation, she would play the game of mahjong with her friends and relatives. She would get renewed energy and forget how hard or tiring her day had been. Our mother also wanted everyone to have a good life. To that, she would even try to play match maker for some of her friends and relatives. She even tried to do that for her own children or grandchildren. Amazingly, these matches led to fruitful marriages and happy lives. Sometimes mom would get real excited while talking to her friends or grandchildren. Whenever that happened, she would unintentionally switch to her native dialect, Taishan. To most of us, that is like a foreign language. We would just nod our heads and return with a smile, because we had no idea what she was talking about.

In 2003, our mother decided to settle down permanently in San Francisco Chinatown. She picked San Francisco so she could be closer to her children and their families, as well as the convenience of getting dim sum (her favorite food) and shopping for fresh groceries. Two wonderful things resulted from her decision. We can see God’s hand is in all these. First, when mom started to get more immobile, Mei, our dear friend, showed up. For the past few years, Mei took care of mom tirelessly. Mei’s exceptional loving care was the only reason that mom could continue doing her morning exercises, enjoy her favorite foods, and lived comfortably until the very end. The second wonderful thing was that she found a church home in Chinatown that she loved and felt her belonging. She enjoyed the fellowship and worship with her Christian brothers and sisters at the church. It was a place where she found peace, joy, and God’s love. We are all thankful for these two wonderful things.

Mom, from all your children and grandchildren. we are very grateful for all your love, care, and support. We are all grown up and keep in our hearts all your teachings and sacrifices. We will always treasure all these memories. We are all proud to have you as our mother and grandmother. We want to say one more Thank You. You can rest in peace. We will reunite with you again at a later day.

林伍麗珠

1925-2021

我們要感謝大家來參加我們敬愛的母親林伍麗珠的告別聚會。她於 2021 年 7 月 12 日中午左右蒙主寵召。我們懷著複雜的心情向她道別，同時慶祝她過去 95 年充實而燦爛的人生。一方面，我們情緒複雜，懷念她的善良、友好和溫柔的微笑。但另一方面，我們知道她現在與主同在，不再會有悲傷及痛苦。不再有難以忍受的全身痕癢，或無法進食的痛苦。

母親生於 1925 年 11 月 28 日，原籍中國廣東台山。二戰日本侵華時，媽媽無法繼續學業。儘管如此，她沒有放棄學習的理念。她深知教育的重要性。以確保所有的兒女都能接受良好教育為目標。希望我們沒有讓她失望。我們都感謝她的鼓勵和支持，幫助我們實現教育目標以及建立成功的事業。

母親是非常樂於助人。 四十年代，十幾歲的她已背負著照顧所有家庭成員的沉重負擔。她一生都是樂於助人而不求回報。 於1941年結婚，1948年隨家人移居香港。繼續幫助管理家族生意。七十 年代，父親病倒，經常長期住院。母親不但要全權打理家族式零售業務，同時還要照顧卧病的父親。但她從沒抱怨過，儘管可以抱怨的原因有很多。因為她的善良，對家人無私的愛、關懷和犧牲，得到鄰居和親戚的高度評價和尊重。她永遠將我們放在第一位。儘管肩負著打理家族生意和照顧丈夫的重擔，她從未忘記我們的學業、健康和幸福。記得多年前，當永彰, 佩琼和 永強因各種問題需要住院時，媽媽永遠都给我們最好的護理及最有營養的食物，幫助我們早日康復。她更不辭勞苦為孩子們尋找和申請香港優良的學校，她的努力為孩子們的教育奠定了良好的基礎 . 讓我們能夠赢在起跑線及在日後的生活中獲得良好的大學教育和成功的職業。我們真的很幸運，在早年得到媽媽的積極支持。

1991 年，她從家族生意退休，移居美國，以便與我們在一起。當我們開始組織家庭及生兒育女，她榮升為一位慈祥的祖母。 佩琼首先在香港生了孩子。媽媽積極幫助佩琼和她的孩子樹仁、慕清和 樹輝。之後，永樑和 Margie在 1988 年有了雙胞胎Andrew和Elizabeth。這是一次非常艱辛的懷孕，但媽媽總是在那裡照顧Margie和早產的雙胞胎。她對所有孫兒的愛永遠深植在他們心中。及後,她搬到洛杉磯與永強和 Ana住在一起。當Samantha出生時，她同樣表现出無邊的愛和關懷。當阿珍開始她的家庭時，媽媽再次在那裡確保阿珍、Bryce 和 Justin得到很好的照顧。她總是全力以赴 做到最好。對此，我們每個人都心存感激。世上沒有一個比你更好的母親、祖母或曾祖母。

媽媽也有輕鬆的一面。照顧五個孩兒和打理家族生意無疑是非常困難及好多瑣事煩擾。為了放鬆自己，她會和朋友和親戚一起打麻將。將所有的煩惱 拋諸腦後, 令她重新煥發活力。母親也希望為她認識的人找到美好的人生。她最初是嘗試為自己的朋友和親戚做媒。後來甚至試圖為自己的兒女及孫兒這樣做。神奇的事是她为媒的家庭都有美滿的婚姻和幸福家庭。有時媽媽和朋友或孫兒們交談時得非常興奮。每當這種情況發生時，她都會不自覺地用她的母語台山方言。對我們大多數人來說，這就像一門外語。我們只會點點頭，報以微笑，雖然我們不知道她在說什麼。

2003 年，母親決定在舊金山唐人街永久定居。她選擇了舊金山，可以更接近子女和家人，同時也能隨時享用港式點心 和購買到新鮮食材。她的決定也帶來了兩件神奇的事。我們可以看到神為媽媽的安排。首先，當媽媽活動能力開始衰退時，我們親愛的朋友Mei出現了。 多年來，Mei不辭勞苦地照顧媽媽。Mei無微不至的關懷令媽媽能夠堅持做早操，享受自己愛吃的食物，安然地活到最後一刻。第二件奇妙的事: 她在唐人街找到了一個她喜歡和有歸屬感的教會。她很享受在教會與基督徒弟兄姊妹的敬拜和團契。在那裡，她找到了平安、喜樂和上帝的愛。為這兩件美好的事，我們都很感恩。