I was born in a small remote mountain village, at that time the village life was very difficult, the family was very poor, and the shortage of food was the most vivid memory of my childhood. We are a family of five, and we all live on my father's harvest of one acre and three points of land.
Whenever there is a shortage of crops, there is always not enough food at home.
Our parents always ate frugally and left us with limited food. I remember one time, my mother boiled a pot of gruel with only soup, and after serving it to us, she only drank a bowl of clear soup.
She said that it was to "nourish the stomach", but I knew that it was because the food at home was no longer enough to distribute to everyone.
In order to satisfy our stomachs, we always flee to the wild and pick those bitter wild vegetables to fill our stomachs. Although those wild vegetables are bitter in the mouth, they are the most delicious "delicacies" in our hearts. On several occasions, I saw my mother suddenly stop while she was busy and quietly eat a handful of wild vegetables.
My mother told me she had no appetite, but I knew it was because she kept everything she could for us.
Whenever I see other children in the village eating white rice, I always feel envy and sorrow, and I wonder when our family will be able to eat fragrant rice every day.
When I was only five years old, my father decided to go out to work, and people in the village went to Guangdong and Fujian to work, and I heard that there was a lot of money to be made there. On the morning before my father left, he squatted down, touched my head with his big rough hands, and said to me kindly, "Son, Dad is going to make money, and our family will be able to eat white rice in the future." I nodded ignorantly, looking at my father's distant back, not knowing how life would change.
At that time, I didn't realize that this was just the beginning of our family's hard life, and that greater difficulties awaited us.
In 1986, when I was 11 years old, a sudden drought severely affected my village's harvest. Seeing that the family's food was about to bottom out, his father frowned, and his mother sighed all day long.
One night, I heard my father say to my mother, "Why don't I go to your brother's house and borrow some food."
Early in the morning, my father woke me up and said he was going to take me to my uncle's house. On the way, I could sense my father's uneasiness and hesitation, and his steps were heavier than usual.
We walked for almost two hours and finally arrived at my uncle's house.
The father took a deep breath and knocked on the door of his uncle's house. When my uncle saw us, he had a look of surprise and embarrassment on his face. The father's voice trembled to explain the intention, and after the uncle was silent for a while, he still shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, my family is not rich now......"
Father didn't say much, just nodded. Then, he pulled me and turned away. On the way home, my father didn't say a word, and I could feel the disappointment and helplessness in his heart. Looking at my father's rickety back, I really felt the hardship and helplessness of life for the first time.
However, fate is always full of surprises. As we were about to get home, we suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind us. When I looked back, it turned out to be my uncle, who was running out of breath, still carrying a bag of grain in his hand, and his face was full of guilt.
"Big brother, I'm sorry, I just now..." Before the uncle finished speaking, the father reached out and took the food bag, and said softly, "It's okay, I understand." "
The uncle hurriedly explained: "Big brother, my sister-in-law was not at home just now, and I was confused for a while. Don't worry, I'll arrange the food, and I'll send you the food at home. "
The father nodded, tears glistening in his eyes. I saw him and my uncle holding each other's hands tightly, and at that moment, I deeply felt the power of family affection.
When I got home, my mother saw the food and asked in surprise, "What did your brother give?" Father didn't say much, just smiled and nodded. That night, our family had a rare full meal.
This episode made me deeply feel the preciousness of family affection and the complexity of human nature. Although life is difficult, the warmth between people is still silently transmitted. This experience of being denied food and receiving help was an important turning point in my life, and it made me understand that life often has difficulties and warmth.
Our life was originally slightly better, but under the trick of fate, we once again suffered a heavy blow. When I was 14 years old, my father was in a car accident while he was working in a foreign country.
That day, when my mother received a strange call, the blood on her face was instantly lostWhen this cruel news reached our ears, I felt as if I had been struck by lightning, and my whole body froze in place.
My mother rushed to the scene in tears, dealing with my father's funeral alone, and during that time, I was anxious and expecting my father to be safe and sound, but in the end, my hope was shattered by the cruel reality.
It wasn't until my father's clothes and simple relics were returned that I really realized that we had lost him forever.
My father's departure not only took away the pillars of the family, but also took away our laughter and hope. The mother had to take on the burden of raising our children on her own.
I could often see her sewing our clothes late at night, and her mother's figure looked unusually tired under the kerosene lamp, and sometimes tears were dripping down.
Life became more and more difficult, but we received unexpected help. The neighbors in the village often brought their own vegetables, and my uncle's family often visited, bringing a lot of food and daily necessities.
The uncle said to his mother, "Sister-in-law, don't worry too much, we will take care of you" Even in the most difficult moments, these little warmth made us truly feel the true feelings of the world.
I began to realize that I needed to grow up as soon as possible and share the financial burden of my family. I volunteered to help my mother with some farm work, and after school I went to the village commissary to help out in exchange for some small pay.
Every time I gave my mother the money I earned, she always touched my head with relief, tears flashing in her eyes, and said, "Son, you have grown up".
These difficult years made me appreciate the heaviness of life too early, but it also taught me what it means to be responsible and strong. I secretly vowed that I must study hard, have a good future in the future, live up to my father's expectations, and not let my mother work so hard again.
Thinking back to what my father taught me before his death, "You should study hard and be a useful person when you grow up", I became even more determined to study hard. Whenever I encountered difficulties in my studies, my father's words became my motivation to move forward.
Although we are deeply saddened by the death of our father, his loss has also brought the family closer together. My bond with my mother has grown stronger, and we support each other to face the difficulties of life together.
This journey made me deeply realize the fragility and preciousness of life, and made me cherish the existence of my relatives and friends around me even more.
Despite the difficult family conditions, I never gave up my dream of studying. Every day, I was the first child in the village to wake up, lighting a kerosene lamp to review my homework. In the evenings, while the other children were watching TV, I was still reading in the dim light.
Sometimes, even the money to buy pens and notebooks is a problem, so I make use of every inch of the blank space in the homework book, and the handwriting is dense.
Although my mother was illiterate, she deeply understood the importance of reading, and she always encouraged me by saying, "Son, our family is counting on you to get ahead through reading." This sentence has become my motivation and sense of responsibility.
Whenever I feel like backing down, I think of my mother's expectant look and keep going.
High school tuition is a big issue for me, and school is about to start, but my family hasn't scraped together enough for it. I was so depressed that I almost gave up. However, it was at this time that the uncle appeared.
Without saying a word, he took out a stack of money and said to me, "This is a little bit of my heart, you must study hard" My uncle's words brought tears to my eyes, and I secretly resolved that I must repay his help with excellent grades.
In school, I got a lot of help from teachers. When they learned about my family situation, they not only waived some of my fees, but also gave me additional tutoring from time to time.
I cherish every opportunity to learn, and I never want to give up no matter what difficulties I encounter.
Hard work will pay off, and the sweat paid is not in vain. In the year of the college entrance examination, I received an admission letter from a major university, and I was so excited that I burst into tears. At that moment, I felt as if I saw my father's smile and felt that my mother's years of hard work had been rewarded.
My mother hugged me tightly and choked up and said, "If your father had a spirit in heaven, he would be proud of you."
After I was admitted to university, I was able to get a school bursary and work part-time in my spare time to earn living expenses. In the four years of university, I not only worked hard to acquire professional knowledge, but also actively read a wide range of books to enrich my knowledge.
I knew that this hard-won learning opportunity was the only way for me to change my destiny.
After graduating, I finally became a doctor and worked in a hospital. Every time I put on a white coat, I can remember the warmth that the kind country doctor gave me when I was sick when I was a child, and this became the original intention and motivation for me to practice medicine.
In my work, I try my best to help everyone who is sick, especially those from poor families. I know their plight and I can relate to their pain. Whenever I see a patient recover and be discharged from the hospital, I feel a genuine sense of joy.
Sometimes, I give some fee waivers to some of the poorer patients, even though it means giving up some of my income.
Working in hospitals for more than ten years has allowed me to significantly improve my medical skills, and at the same time, I am deeply aware of the preciousness of life and the great responsibility of doctors. I often regret that my father was sick and could not be treated in time.
This thought made me cherish my current job even more and keep trying to improve my medical skills.
While I have achieved success in my career, I have never forgotten to give back to those who have helped me. I regularly rush back to the main village to visit my mother and fellow villagers, provide them with free medical treatment, and sponsor the children of poor families in the village.
I am very pleased to see the life of the villagers changing day by day, which makes me even more determined to continue to work hard.
I have been widely recognized by the hospital through continuous efforts, but I have never forgotten my original intention. Regardless of the change in position, I have always maintained empathy for patients and reverence for medicine.
This profession not only allows me to realize my self-worth, but also gives me the ability to help more people. Every time I see the smile of a patient after recovery, I can deeply appreciate the meaning of life and the value of my work.
This made me even more convinced that I had made the right choice for this path in the first place.
Last spring, I suddenly received the news that my mother was sick, and when I rushed home, I found that my mother was already sick, and the severity of her illness was worrying, and the doctor diagnosed her with terminal cancer.
When I heard the news, I immediately asked for leave from work and took my mother to the hospital where I worked.
In the days of taking care of my mother, I often think about those moments of my childhood. Although my mother's body is weak, she has always cared for and supported my work and life. One day, my mother weakly took my hand and said with tears in her eyes, "Son, I'm really sorry for making you suffer so much before." ”
At that moment, I held my mother's hand tightly and choked up and said to her, "Mom, don't say that. Without your hard work, I wouldn't be where I am today. "At that moment, the knot in my heart that I had been feeling for many years seemed to be untied at once.
We hugged each other and cried, as if we were back in that difficult but warm childhood.
Although I didn't save my mother's life, I was glad to be by her side in the last stages of her life. On the day my mother left, as I had done when I was a child, I was next to her bedside and whispered about the past few years and my gratitude.
The loss of my mother has made me more aware of the meaning of cherishing life and family affection. I understand that life's setbacks and difficulties are actually opportunities for us to grow and mature. Once, when I went to borrow food, I was rejected, but this did not break our faith, but it brought our family closer and taught me to be hopeful and strong in the face of adversity.