Her son was gone a long time ago. Her daughter was living abroad. After her husband passed away, Mrs. Chao, who herself was afflicted with mouth cancer, said that she always had a wish-to act as a volunteer in a hospital and dedicate herself to the old and desolate.

At the end of May when Master Cheng Yen made her regular monthly visit to the Tzu Chi Taipei branch office, Sister Chang Teh-jung, a Tzu Chi commissioner, took an old lady to see her. The woman, seventy-six years old, said that twenty-seven years before the Master had visited her home to see her son, who was then in the final stage of cancer. She had always remembered the Master's kindness and had wanted to express her gratitude to her. She had saved NT$1 million in a special investment account which was just about to mature. She wanted to donate that money to the Tzu Chi Foundation, and she wanted to dedicate herself to orphans and the elderly.

Distressed

The story began like this.

In March this year, Teh-jung was visiting a patient in the Veterans' Hospital in Taoyuan. She saw an old woman leaning against the wall outside the intensive care unit. Out of curiosity, she asked her what she was waiting for. "Nothing," the woman replied. "My husband is dying."

Teh-jung said that she was a Tzu Chi member, and that if the old lady needed any help, she could phone her. The woman, whom everybody called Mother Chao, said that she had sent a letter to Tzu Chi expressing her wish to donate her body, but she had never gotten a reply. The following day, Teh-jung brought her a body donation agreement card.

On that particular day, Mother Chao thought her husband was about to pass away, so she leaned disconsolately against the wall outside the ICU. Unexpectedly, the old man survived another fifteen days. During those fifteen agonizing days, Mother Chao frequently rang Teh-jung to pour out her distress. When he finally passed away, Teh-jung asked several Tzu Chi members to chant "Amitabha" for him. Mother Chao was very grateful. She thought that after her husband was gone, she would be very lonely at home. Furthermore, she herself was afflicted with a parotid gland tumor, and it was possible that she did not have much time left. Since she had many years' experience as a nurse, she told The-jung that she would like to do volunteer work at Tzu Chi Hospital.

Reunited

Her memory went back to twenty-seven years before when her only son was in the final stage of stomach cancer and had only a few days to live. Mrs. Lee, a Tzu Chi commissioner who lived in the neighborhood, saw Mother Chao's despair, and she asked Master Cheng Yen to see Mother Chao's son.

Mother Chao said she had no idea about Buddhist etiquette, and so she was always afraid that she had not treated the Master with the proper courtesy. She had never forgotten about the Master's visit, and always hoped that she could see her again to express her gratitude.

With a sigh of regret, she said that when she later tried to find that Mrs. Lee, she was told that she had immigrated to the United States. Mother Chao thought that she would never see her again in this life.

Just as she finished her story, a gray-haired sister sitting across from her exclaimed, "Oh, my! I was that Mrs. Lee. No wonder you looked so familiar!" Everybody around was stunned by such a miraculous reunion.

Dedicated

Teh-jung said that Mother Chao's daughter had immigrated to the United States. Eight years ago, Mr. Chao was afflicted with throat cancer. Three years later, he had a stroke. For one year and nine months, he stayed in the Veterans' Hospital in Taoyuan. During that whole time, Mother Chao looked after her husband all by herself without a break. She said proudly, "Although he was in bed for so long, he never had bedsores."

In order to kill time, Mother Chao, who was fond of reading, became a frequent visitor to the hospital library. The librarian said admiringly, "Mother Chao, you have read almost all the books in our library."

After Mr. Chao passed away, she spent most of her time reading. When we talked about her wish to look after the elderly, she said to me with tears flickering in her eyes, "I feel so sorry for those lonely old people. The desolation they endure is very difficult for young people like you to imagine."

Open-Minded

In 1991, Mother Chao was diagnosed with a parotid gland tumor and the doctor gave her no more than three months to live. With optimism and perseverance, the indomitable Mother Chao beat the cancer and survived. One year later, she went back to the same hospital to see that doctor. She met him in the corridor. "As soon as he saw me, he ran away as if he had seen a ghost," Mother Chao laughed.

Mother Chao used to own four houses. She sold the first one when her son was sick. When her daughter wanted to study abroad and get married, she sold the second one. The third one was sold to pay the tremendous hospital expenses for her husband. Now she is living in the last one, which is also the worst one, but she is very contented. "This one is located at the foot of a mountain. It is very quiet and the air is fresh."

A couple of years ago, Mother Chao saw a copy of the Tzu Chi Monthly magazine in the hospital. Thumbing through it, she found an article about body donation. After reading it, she decided to donate her body to the Tzu Chi College of Medicine. She wrote a letter to Tzu Chi asking for the body donation agreement card. Some of her young relatives were very curious. "Mother Chao," the remarked, "we never thought you were so open-minded at your age." She replied, "My body will be cremated after I die anyway, so why don't I make the best use of it?"