(Minghui.org) Despite the bad memories from her youth, my over 80-year-old mother-in-law smiles. Her skin is fair and rosy, and her cholecystitis is gone. When relatives visit her during the Chinese New Year, she always praises me and says I’m a good daughter-in-law.
She studied very hard and received excellent grades in high school. Unfortunately, this was during the early days of the Cultural Revolution and she was not allowed to take the college entrance examination because of her family’s background. Losing the opportunity to get a higher education became a bitter pill in her life.
Many bad things happened to her family during the Cultural Revolution. Her father’s leg was hit and broken. Her brother earned a teaching degree. But because he fit into one of the “Four Black Categories” he was assigned to work in a quarry, smashing stones for more than 10 years. The unfair classification later also affected her and her brother’s marriages.
The Cultural Revolution changed her life and instilled fear in her mind. After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Dafa, she listened to the rumors spread by the regime and refused to listen when I tried to tell her the facts about the persecution. I put the book, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party in her room one night before she went to bed. She was furious the next morning and complained to my parents. Her reaction gave me a deep understanding of the power of the book, which reveals insights to help people realize the true nature of the CCP.
As a Falun Dafa practitioner, I did my best to take care of my father-in-law when he was hospitalized. My husband was out of town at the time so I stayed at the hospital day and night to care for him. I asked my mother-in-law to rest at home because she had problems with her legs. I walked a long way to buy delicious meals for my father-in-law because there were no decent restaurants nearby.
The other patients complimented my father-in-law for being so lucky to have such a nice daughter-in-law. After he passed away, my husband’s family did not know the local rituals, so I took the lead in doing many things and made the funeral a grand event. My mother-in-law was pleased and praised me for making good arrangements.
My mother-in-law used to live with her daughter but decided to move in with us after her husband passed away. Some people said that she did not walk well so she wanted to live with us to reduce the burden on her daughter. However, I never thought it was a hardship to take her in. As I see it, our home is her home
I tried to care for her, but she was not very easy to interact with. She scolded me sometimes. Many years ago, when her daughter was pregnant and still working, my mother-in-law mentioned that her daughter had no one because her son-in-law worked out of town. I quit my job the next day and told my mother-in-law that I could take care of my two-year-old to free her up to help her daughter. Unexpectedly, she looked stern and complained that I quit my job.
My mother-in-law kept things clean and tidy. One time when we moved, I bundled up the blanket that my sister gave me as a wedding gift and put it in my closet casually. When she saw it, she called me to the closet and complained, “How many times do you want to get married? Are you looking down on the blanket or the person who gave it to you!” I was confused and she asked me to look at her closet for comparison. My husband replied, “Mother, not everyone is like you.” She became angry. She was very strict and never allowed her children to disobey her when they were young. Nevertheless, I understood that I should be tidier. I gradually improved and overcame my sloppy habits.
Over time, my mother-in-law realized the differences between Falun Dafa practitioners and everyday people so she accepted the truth about Falun Dafa. She’s now a kind and gracious lady. I’m so happy for her!
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