Choose a birthday for my mother
■Liu Shaotang
My mother’s birthday was chosen by my brother and me, and it fell on July 1st. This fulfills my mother’s wish and also encourages us to repay the Party’s kindness, listen to the Party’s words, and follow the Party.
In my memory, my mother celebrates our birthday every year. In times of poverty, even if it was making a bowl of white noodles, which was usually hard to eat, or boiling two eggs, my mother would take this opportunity to express her blessings to us. After my brother Liu Guotang and I joined the army, my mother never forgot our birthdays. Being illiterate, she would always ask someone to write a letter, send birthday wishes, and repeatedly ask us to do a good job in the army.
In 1975, his younger brother Guotang was recommended by the army to Tongji University. Having the first college student in the family made my mother so happy that she couldn't sleep all night. It happened to be my brother's birthday soon. Early the next morning, my mother went to the county post office to send an urgent telegram, sending a sentence she heard on the radio: "The people sent me to college, and I went to college to serve the people." .” She also specially added: “Son, don’t forget, this is also a birthday gift from my mother.”
My mother’s birthday wishes for us made us feel that although our son is far away in the army, she seems to be here. Surrounded by you, we have a happy and warm birthday. Birthdays have become a good gas station for us brothers. Later, Guotang and I joined the party and were promoted to cadres in the army.
Mom remembers to celebrate our birthdays, but she never celebrates her own birthday. She was born in an era of war and chaos, and life was extremely difficult. Mom only remembers that her zodiac sign is Sheep, but she doesn’t know the specific month and day she was born. In 2008, my mother was 88 years old, and she was commonly known as "米生". My brother and I suddenly thought that we should celebrate my mother’s birthday, so we immediately discussed with my family to choose a birthday for my mother who has enjoyed the happiness of four generations living under the same roof. When is
chosen? My mother has been running away from famine since she was a child, and she has an ironclad belief in her heart: the Communist Party, which leads the poor to liberation, is the great savior, and she must follow the Party at all times. From actively making military shoes during the war years, to taking the lead in collective production and actively supporting my brother and I in joining the army to serve the country, my mother has always had a deep affection for the party. If my mother's birthday falls on July 1st, she will be very happy.
On the morning of July 1st, the whole family gathered together. When the birthday candles were lit and the children and grandchildren wished the old man a happy birthday, my mother kept wiping her tears with a handkerchief. She was happy that she finally had her own birthday, and she saw that all her children and grandchildren were promising and had ideals. Feel proud. After a while, my mother opened her fingers and counted something. We don’t know what she is counting? She said, there are eight soldiers in our family, which is almost enough for one shift. It turned out that my mother was counting the number of soldiers among her sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. My mother said affectionately: "It is our responsibility to protect our family and our country. I hope that our family will have soldiers from generation to generation. There are good role models in the army such as Lei Feng and Wang Jie. You must learn from them." !" We all said "Yes!" In the joy, as soon as the children's songs of several great-grandchildren finished, my mother also hummed like a child: "The east is red, the sun is rising, there is a Mao Zedong in China..." Sing, and the whole family sings along.
From then on, every July 1st, we celebrated my mother’s birthday. This not only expresses filial piety to the mother, but also takes this opportunity to inspire the younger generations to keep moving forward.
"July 1st" is coming again. I want to tell my mother who has left us that we will always remember my mother's upbringing and the party's kindness.
(The original text was published in the "Life Weekly" of the People's Liberation Army Daily on June 26, 2022. The content is slightly abridged; the cover image is from the Internet.)
The People's Liberation Army Daily published it on WeChat
Broadcaster: Hao Chengbo
Editor: Liu Yan
