A Typical Chinese Female Peasant (by Iris)

I am teaching writing this semester, and I absolutely love it. I am in the midst of grading descriptive essays and just finished reading a very touching piece one student wrote about her mother. Enjoy :)


"My Mother, a Typical Chinese Female Peasant" by Iris

My mother, who is nearly sixty now, is a typical Chinese female peasant. Day after day, she toils and moils in the field. Being very pessimistic, she is always feeling sad. However, she loves me so much that she spares no effort to encourage me to face difficulties in my study and my life optimistically and bravely.

After years of hard work, she is skeleton thin. Her face is without flesh. It looks like a skeleton which was covered by a piece of gray skin. The bones in both her cheeks are noticeably protruding. Her eyes, filled with sadness, can only show some signs of happiness when she hears my good news. Wrinkles spring up on her forehead and become denser with age. Her lips are pale white. When she shows her teeth one can see how black they are, covered by dirty things calculated year after year. Because she never brushes her teeth. There is no such thing as tooth brush or tooth paste in her mind. And her hands make me think of dried tree branches. And her neck, because of an accident in her childhood, is deformed and bends towards the left side.

This is not an attractive image, absolutely. But I admire her. It is her skinny hands that give my brother and me great support. Now, being far apart from her, she misses me very much. Once I called her on the line, she cried uncontrollably. I was thinking whether to go home or not during the QingMing Festival. She said in a sullen voice, "My dear, come back. I miss you too much." She had some problem with her body. But when I arrived home, she said happily, "When you come back, my illness goes away immediately." Hearing this, I sobbed. I can't give her company for the sake of my study.

As time flies, I am worried about her health. She is skinny. Any disease may take her away from me. I hope that day will never come.