Dad's caretaker was 71-year-old Mr. Zhao, a tough
restless ex-farmer and fit as a fiddle. His wife
(20 years younger) worked the same profession.
When she didn't have work, she would accompany
him at dad's place. They were neither rich nor
beautiful and had had more than their share of
misery and suffering. But they were content,
appreciative of each other, and full of life.
During my stay, the couple came around 7:00am and
left after 7:00pm. (They would have stayed in had
dad let them.) They cooked three meals for him, took
care of his bills and medicine, and did all the
cleaning and maintenance around the house. Their
energy made the place cheerful and Dad's health
improved. He looked better and could walk a couple
of miles now.
Mr. Zhao, under-educated, understood the
importance of gratitude. He told me he was very
lucky, after losing two wives, first to cancer and
second to human-trafficking, and at such age, to
have a third one. Recently I happened to listen to
Steve Maxwell, an American strength coach, who
stressed how important gratitude was in his life.
Both reminded me of my Canadian Christian friend
who thanked her God all the time.
We got a lot done. Mr. Zhao, his son-in-law, and I
spent a couple of days cleaning the yard and
pouring concrete. We first had to cut some
mid-sized trees to save a wall and dig up roots.
We put in the concrete two pieces of metal so that
later we could weld on top to make a pullup bar.
It would cost less than 200.00 RMB (In comparison,
I invested $600.00 USD in California for a decent bar).
Digging tree roots was hard work and I got a
blister swinging a pick. Other than that, no one
was hurt and I was very happy about my strength
and stamina, working beside a 32-year-old the
whole day. I woke up next morning at 4:30am, did
yoga, and my body felt perfectly fine.
Thank You for Mr. and Mrs. Zhao.
