The Secret to My Centenarian Father’s Longevity

(Minghui.org) My father is 101 years old. He is very healthy and energetic. He is very clear-minded and can take care of everything himself. Many people admire him and ask for the secret to his longevity.

My father is a retired teacher. He has taught numerous students during his long teaching career. He was upright and honest. He never tried to curry favor with his supervisors, but always loved his students very much. At that time, his monthly salary was about 70 yuan. My mother was an engineer in a state-owned enterprise with a monthly salary of only 30 yuan. 

In addition to supporting us five siblings, my parents also had to send money to our grandparents every month. Although money was tight at home, my father was always very generous to his students who needed financial help. In my father’s later years of teaching, a colleague, who was a former student of his, died young. The colleague’s wife was out of work, and their son was laid off. So my father gave them 500 to 1,000 yuan right before each Chinese New Year for a few years to help out the family.

By the time I was released from prison after serving 12 years for not giving up my faith in Falun Dafa, I had been fired from my job and my husband had been forced to divorce me. I moved in with my father, as my mother had already passed away while I was in prison. 

My father was afraid that I would be persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) again, so he watched me very closely. He didn’t allow me to go out often, or welcome my fellow practitioners to visit me. When I clarified the facts to him, he was not willing to listen, nor did he agree to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

I had fellow practitioners install New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) for us. Gradually, my father realized that the NTDTV programs are uncensored information and different from the CCP’s propaganda. He changed his perception and the communication between us became easier. He now watches NTDTV every day. 

After we moved to my father’s newly assigned 3-bedroom apartment, I installed a printer in my bedroom and started making some truth-clarification materials. At the same time, I used my expertise to install computer systems for fellow practitioners and was involved in different truth-clarification projects. My father was a little worried at first, but later he acquiesced.

My father also helped me find a housekeeping job in his school, which was enough to cover basic living expenses, but without taking too much of my time.

Through watching NTDTV, my father developed a more thorough understanding of the evil nature of the CCP. When I asked him to quit the CCP again, he happily agreed. His life has been rejuvenated. He became healthier. He also understood and supported everything I did. He did not bother me again when fellow practitioners came to discuss things with me. My father hoped that he could live long enough to see the day when the evil CCP disintegrates. Although he never drinks alcohol, he said he would drink to celebrate on that day!

During the CCP’s “zero-out” harassment campaign [aimed to force every Falun Dafa practitioner on the government’s blacklist to renounce their faith], I was followed by plainclothes officers. One day in early February last year, several police officers broke in and ransacked our house. My father was woken up. He yelled at the police, “What are you doing?!” The police wanted to search his room, and he shouted at them, “What do you want to do? This is my stuff!” 

An officer saw the truth-clarification calendar on my father’s coat rack, and took it down. He also saw a “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” pendant, and wanted to take it down as well. My father walked over while he was grabbing the pendant, and demanded to know, “Why are you behaving like a bandit?” 

My father also used his crutch to hit another officer’s legs while he was standing on my bed to search my dresser. My father demanded that the police chief write down his name. The chief was intimidated by my father.

Because of Master’s protection and my father’s stern attitude towards the police, they took away truth-clarification materials, computers and printers, but they didn’t dare to arrest me. And they never came back to harass me again. My father arranged for me to live in our hometown for a while. After I came back, I purchased more equipment and continued to print the materials at home.

My father celebrated his 100th birthday last May. Many of his former students came to celebrate his birthday. They recalled all the selfless things my father did for them and they were very grateful. My father was so happy.

Our family now spans five generations, with over 20 family members. My father has become a great-great-grandfather. The younger generations are all living a good life, and they come to visit him very often.

I know that my father is blessed because he has been kind and generous throughout his life to support his students. He protected me, his Dafa practitioner daughter. He quit the evil CCP. He accumulated virtue and got an extended, blessed life. In the human world, my father is like a big tree, sheltering me from the wind and rain, allowing me to have a stable life and walk the path of saving people through Fa-rectification and cultivation. All of this is Master’s compassionate arrangement. Thank you, Master!