A personal photo and story to match the chinese phrase below, reblogged from jessielau.
前人種樹 後人剩涼
qián rén zhòng shù hòu rén shèng liáng
Enjoy!

jessielau:

Grandmother (by jessielau.com)

Hong Kong, 2010

There is a Chinese saying “前人種樹 後人剩涼” (qián rén zhòng shù hòu rén shèng liáng) which literally means the previous generation plant the tree so that the later generations can enjoy its shade. The metaphor is that the previous generation works hard to provide for the later ones.

This is my grandmother sitting in front of the family auto shop that my grandfather established (in 1962!), the business supported the family of nine. He worked hard all his life until his health deteriorated and forced him to really stop. Long story short, I probably wouldn’t even exist without this shop. I took this on the first day when I was back to Hong Kong and we were there looking for my uncle, but he was out at work and my grandmother just sat at the bar stool that is left outside, acting like she owns the place (she does).

That moment, it occurred to me how fortunate she is/i am, because now, after his death, she is able to live comfortably thanks to my grandfather’s legacy.

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