Shing Tsu Chang

was born on March 1, 1941 to Mr. Chuen Shi Shih (施純時) and Mrs. Wu Pian Shih (施吳翩) in Changhua county, Taiwan. For the longest time, she told us she was born on February 29th based on the old lunar calendar. In 1980, I remembered that I joked that she was only 10 years old and would remain forever young since she has had only 10 birthdays! Then later, it dawned on me that 1941 was not a leap year. So we happily celebrated her birthday on both February 29th and March 1st.

Our father, Hsin Shing Chang (張新興) met our mother working in a bank in Taipei in 1962 after my mom was transferred to Taipei. Our mom would secretly help our father do his work while he studied at night at National Taiwan University. They would then go on dates to eat Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Finally, they got married on October 11, 1964 in Taipei. Our mother wore a beautiful white wedding dress with a veil while our father wore a suit and white gloves. They honeymooned in Sun Moon Lake!

Kainn was born in 1965, Kailane in 1968 and I (Kuo-yo) came last but luckily in 1969. Starting in about 1968, our mom helped our dad start a business selling textile chemicals. Our mom was very social, friendly, intelligent and street smart, articulate, always happy, vibrant, optimistic, stylish and full of life. She helped my dad tremendously in building a successful company by initially borrowing part of the startup capital needed from her aunt and handled the accounting in his company while still working at the bank. Her cheery and social personality made everyone like her. Pretty much the only two persons in the world she did not get along with were my dad’s second brother and her mother-in-law! She would tell stories about how she had suffered living with the extended family right after she got married even after 55 years of marriage! Other than that, we’ve never heard her say anything bad about other people.

In 1977, our family immigrated to the US and we settled next to our two uncles in Houston. All 3 families lived on the same street in Alief and we grew up with our aunts and uncles and cousins. My mother did not speak a word of English when she moved to the US but she learned how to drive and settled in a new life without the weekly stylish hair dressing that she had had in Taipei. Our parents were very brave to come to America to start a new life even though they could have been comfortable in Taiwan. Our mom learned to drive and somehow passed the driving test on the first try! She helped my dad with his real estate business and did all of the accounting while raising the family. We were very happy with our mom because she was not too strict. I personally can’t remember her getting mad at me even when I fought with my sisters.

With the kids off to college and living in other states, mom and dad had a good life living in Sugar Land and being with their friends and relatives. They would go to the mall every morning to meet their friends to talk and socialize. We are grateful for these goods friends and close relatives who kept them company after they became empty nesters and traveled with them on vacations. Our mom’s daily routine was simple but she had a very active social life. Her favorite activity was shopping and buying clothes on sale! Her favorite color is vibrant red!

Throughout their lives, they encountered hardships but mom never complained. They moved forward, met and overcame those challenges. Our parents were like traditional Taiwanese parents and did not show affection for each other in front of the kids. But in the end, my father said the most romantic words to our mother and told her that she was the only person he had ever loved. In many ways, my mom waited all her life to hear this from my father, but deep down inside she had always known that he had always loved her. They are each other’s best friends.

Our mother was baptized at MD Anderson Cancer Center and was born again. She was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of diffused large B cell lymphoma and was treated with the first round of gentle chemotherapy. She was optimistic, courageous and had a fighting spirit. She is now in heaven with Jesus and we love her so much and miss her immensely. Her unconditional love for us will continue forever and our love for her will be eternal. The memories of her lively spirit will stay with us like a bright star in the dark night. We love you Mama, and Baba loves you! Our hearts ache for you! We miss you so much!