Mother, daughter unexpectedly reunite at Voorhees Care and Rehabilitation
One of the most important traditional Chinese festivals, the Mid-Autumn Festival, falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, around the time of the autumn. Many refer to it simply as the “Fifteenth of the Eighth Month.” As the full, bright moon on that night tends to inspire people’s anticipation for a family reunion, it is also called “Festival of Reunion.”
More specifically, a family reunion of sorts is what this truly is, as last month a 97-year-old Chinese woman, Mrs. Li, arrived to reside at The Voorhees Care and Rehabilitation Center. Her granddaughters were concerned about her well-being and had their grandmother transferred from a facility that she lived in Maple Shade. She had been transitioning to her newer community, when an extraordinary surprise occurred.
Nearly one month later, community director Grace Kong welcomed a new arrival to The Voorhees Care and Rehabilitation Center’s Chinese community. Mrs. Wong transitioned from living a few years in a facility in Pennsylvania that was not meeting her needs as well as her family was concerned. There was a language barrier with her unique Chinese dialect and the cultural dietary needs were not being met. The family searched for a place that their mother would have a better life and spoke with a family friend whose mother-in-law was already living in the community at Voorhees. He indicated how well and happy his 98-year-old mother-in-law was doing in the place that accommodated her needs, so they reviewed his recommendation and moved their mother in.
When Mrs. Wong arrived, she was greeted in a lounge with other members of the Chinese community and her grandsons noticed their “Po Po,” or grandmother.
“That lady looks like our grandmother,” the young men said.
As it turned out, the 97-year old lady, Mrs. Li, is the men’s grandmother, who they had lost touch with for a long time when their own mother became incapacitated and each family was busy navigating its own health challenges for their nuclear relative.
Suddenly, the mother and daughter were reunited. Mrs. Wong’s sons recalled better days when their mother was in finer health and she would visit her mother, their grandmother weekly and the extended family would gather for Sunday Dim Sum in Chinatown.
Cautiously, the 97-year-old mother Mrs. Li reached for her daughter’s hand and smiled at her. They both have some vision impairments, but were studying each other’s countenances to get reacquainted. They both went through separate health issues, so they lost touch and went separate paths, yet following this time of the “Festival of Reunion” this family encountered it in the purest sense.
“Something wonderful just happened,” stated Grace Kong, director of Chinese Community with The Voorhees Care and Rehabilitation Center, as the realization of the family reunion took place.
For more information, please contact Kong, director of Chinese Community, at (856) 679–4416 or Ami Feller, admissions and community relations, at (856) 316–1200.
Submitted by Ami Feller
