胡淑萍／懷念沈伯母

Nien-Tsu (念祖) and I were college classmates. I first met Nien-Tsu’s Mom, Mrs. Shen (沈伯母), in the fall of 1971. Nien-Tsu invited Yih-Shyh (意式) and I to her home on a Sunday afternoon.  Yih-Shyh and I were very excited about this gathering as we were going to meet two renowned history professors in person. On the other hand, we were both nervous about the meeting.

Yih-Shyh and I decided to meet in TaiDa first. On the bus to Ching-Tien Street, Yih-Shyh said to me, “Too bad—I forgot all about history.” I replied, “Me too. I was trying to locate my history text books yesterday but couldn’t find any. I am toast!”

Our worries were all gone when we met Mrs. Shen. She was warm, charming, and humorous.  No history quizzes (hallelujah); she asked about our families and personal interests instead. Her face lit up when she learned about our heights. She claimed victoriously, “Oh, I beat you both by one inch—a very precious one inch!” Of course, Yih-Shyh and I agreed wholeheartedly. Unlike Nien-Tsu, Yih-Shyh and I are both vertically challenged. We were also quite pleased (鬆了一口氣) because Mrs. Shen was obviously more interested in our heights than history that day. Yes, that was a very pleasant and memorable Sunday afternoon—we enjoyed it!
Mrs. Shen has become a role model to me ever since then. She was caring, knowledgeable, and wise. I would consult her with many 疑難雜症 and would feel enlightened after receiving her insightful comments.
Over the past decade, we used to get together a couple of times a year and I noticed that Mrs. Shen looked younger and healthier last year, compared to when I saw her in 2011. I asked her to pass on a few health tips. Her recommendation was “following your heart.” She also mentioned that she was happy and content after finishing the book of “西洋民主政治的治亂興衰.”  I was very fortunate to receive a copy of the book with her autograph.
Many years ago, Mrs. Shen joked about her taking care of two naughty children in the family: the older one is Professor Shen (her husband); the younger one is Nine-Tsu. She treated both with tremendous amount of TLC. I often thought her marriage with Professor Shen was a romantic love story in the 20th century.  Unfortunately, Professor Shen passed away in July of 1977. I could imagine that Mrs. Shen must be heartbroken due to Professor Shen’s sudden passing. Mrs. Shen was calm at Professor Shen’s funeral service. When the coffin was about to be sealed, however, she exclaimed, “Wait a minute, let me touch him one more time.” After all these years, I could still feel her deep sorrow at that moment.  But I know Mrs. Shen is now reunited with her beloved Mr. Shen (沈先生).