Apr 30 2008
The beauty queen Lily
Si gupo 四姑婆 Grandaunt Lily (1914 Beijing - ) is Yeye’s youngest sister. On our way home from Virginia, we stopped by her apartment. At 94, unbelievably healthy and still lives by herself in Silver Spring. Compare to Lucy who’s separated from her husband since late 70s or 1980 (more free time with others) and lived in Beijing till 1957 (more story to tell), Lily is more reserved.
She was the beauty queen and married a Columbia Uni PhD (history) originally from Hunan province. They got married in Hong Kong in 1938 and went to Chongquing, then to Qingdao, and after the Sino-Jap war’s over they came back to Beijing for a few years. Lived in Xijing Jidao 西京几道 now renamed to Taipping Qiao Dajie 太平桥大街, just behind the Cultural Palace of the Nationalities 民族宫 in Xidan. Her husband took charge of the education department. When the civil war nearing the end, they retreat once more to the south and eventually reached Jakarta. After few years there, they immigrated to New York in 1957. Both her sons, Uncle Alan and Phillips attended Columbia. Alan was an oral exam short of his PhD becasue ’he found a job at the Big Blue’ and Phillip got his MBA fm Harvard.
Due to the never ending wars, Lily lost touch with family. When Lucy and her husband (a William and Mary grad) went to Macau, they had to advertize in the newspaper to find her. Lucy soon followed Lily to New York. Her son Uncle Jimmy attended Columbia as well, and got his law degree there too.