My parents started their 68 years of married lives apart. My father, Shi Chen (Mark) Chiang, worked in Hong Kong while my mother, Kok Pei Chiang, moved to the United States. Yet, once they were reunited, they were rarely apart, even at ACC Care Center where they both resided.
On February 27, 2021, my mother passed away at the Care Center. My father used his last words to call out for her the next morning and passed away the evening of February 28, just 18 hours after his wife. Their amazing story of being together all the way to the end was made possible by ACC.
After serving on the ACC Board back in the day with some of the “originals” like Chewy Ito and Winston Ashizawa, I was excited to see ACC expanding into the senior independent living market and my parents were one of the first couples to move into ACC Greenhaven Terrace after the facility was purchased in 2007. I was grateful to have my parents within minutes of my own home. At the beginning, they were very shy because they were native Cantonese speakers, and their English was limited. But after a couple of years, as more Cantonese-speaking residents moved to GT, they made many friends and could be seen “high-fiving” others in the Community Room.
Activities were a big part of their lives, especially those that were culturally focused. I could tell the activities made my parents feel lively and important instead of old and useless. Although my mom was frail and couldn’t participate in the exercise classes, she enjoyed just being in the room, watching and moving her feet along to the music. My mom started planting and I could tell she was having fun. GT-organized birthday celebrations, trips to Red Hawk, hanging out in the mah-jong room visiting with friends, and free coffee were other highlights. These types of supportive activities are so critical for the elders and really enabled my parents to thrive and flourish during their time at GT.
My parents resided at GT for almost 12 years before moving to the ACC Care Center due to failing health. Their participation in daily activities continued at the Care Center where having employees who speak other languages was essential to their well-being. I consider it a blessing that my parents were able to be cared for at another ACC facility after being unable to continue safely living on their own. They spent their final 2 ½ years at the Care Center.
My family, Joe , Gulnara, Brittany, Marshall and Sophia are so thankful for the wonderful, compassionate care my parents received and all of the happy memories ACC helped to create.
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