Youxian Yu's Obituary
余有仙，一九二五年（乙丑年）二月初六，出生於广东省鹤山市宅梧镇。於二零一七年六月二十八日在美国三藩市离世，享高壽九十有三。 余有仙是家中幼女，因是女儿身，故未能有機會入學堂讀書,小小年紀就跟着同村的大人為貨主挑擔送貨，以幫補家計。她個頭不高，卻不怕苦不怕累，練就了她日後刻苦耐勞的性格。 後來她跟姐姐到廣州謀生，在廣州營造廠結識了後來的丈夫蔡振基先生，並於一九五一年在廣州結婚定居，婚後進入廣東省建築公司當雜工。余有仙是一個勤勞的職業婦女，也是一位能干的家庭主妇，她在單位年年被評為先進工作者，同時又把上有老下有小的家庭打理得井井有條。逢年過節，她都會準備醃酸蘿蔔，糕點等家鄉小吃招呼親朋好友。余有仙育有一子五女，雖然家境不富裕，卻努力供书教学，保證個個子女都获得良好教育。 一九九零年，已經移民美國的女兒申請她與丈夫到美國定居。為了讓中國的子女盡快來美國團聚，連中文都不大會的她竟然完成入籍短訓班的學習，通過了英文入籍考試並取得美國國籍，使得其他幾名兒女很快也來到美國定居。 二零一零年，余有仙確診患有淋巴癌。八十五歲高齡的她又毅然接受挑戰，同意化療並取得了顯著的療效。余有仙為人心地善良，處處為別人著想，自己能做的事都不會麻煩別人。二零一六年，癌症復發的她經常出入東華醫院。身患重病的她卻還常常体恤護士們的辛劳，跟他们說：你們很忙很辛苦的，你們忙完再幫我吧。許多社工和護士們提起余婆婆都称讃並怀念她，说她是一位慈祥的长者。Mrs. Youxian Yu was born in Zhaiwu, Heshan, Guangdong on February 6th, 1925. She passed away on June 28th, 2017 in San Francisco at the age of ninety-three. As Youxian was the youngest child in her family and a girl, she was not given the chance to attend school. At a young age, she began working as a porter along with adults in the village to support her family. Despite her small stature and lack of formal education, she endured every hardship and gained practical working experience and knowledge, which helped shape her resilient personality and fierce spirit. Later in her life, she moved to the city of Guangzhou with her sister to earn a living. Youxian worked at Guangzhou Construction Company where she would meet Mr. Zhenji Cai , who would later become her husband; they married and settled down in Guangzhou in 1951. Not only was she a diligent worker, earning work achievement awards every year, but also a devoted housewife and mother to one son and five daughters. She would lovingly prepare pickles and snacks for family and friends during the holidays. Though the family was not wealthy, she made sure all of her children had an opportunity to attend school and obtain an education. In December 1990, one of her daughters who had already immigrated to United States invited Youxian and her husband to come live in the U.S. Though she was not very literate, even in Chinese, she overcame the language barrier and learned enough English to complete her naturalization course, passing her citizenship test upon her first attempt. With encouragement from Youxian, many of her other children made the decision to immigrate to the United States in the following years. At the age of 85, she was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. Despite the odds, she refused to give up and underwent chemotherapy, which remarkably put the cancer in remission. She was a kind, thoughtful person, who would refuse help if she could do it on her own. Her cancer relapsed in 2016, resulting in repeated stays at the hospital and a deteriorating condition. In spite of her condition she was always polite and courteous towards the nurses, continuing to think of others first. She would always tell them to attend to other patients first and to help her later. Every time Chinese Hospital nurses and social workers spoke of Grandma Yu, they all said she was a kindhearted women whom they will always remember. Youxian enjoyed a long and happy life, accompanied by a loving husband, children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren, who were all bedside in her last moments. Her family says goodbye to Youxian Yu, but her love and compassion will always be in our heart.
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