Name/Title
Cypress Golden Gate - Victoria Chan - Self Portrait at 8 MonthsDescription
Victoria (Vickie) Chan considers herself a lucky woman. Born in Hong Kong in 1931, she remembers people dying in the streets during the Japanese occupation, which began when she was ten. "I'm a Christian," she says. "I always thank God."
When World War II ended, she attended an English high school and entered nursing school, following in the footsteps of her mother, who was a mid-wife. She undertook advanced nursing studies in England returning to Hong Kong to work as a head nurse until the communist take-over in 1967. It was then that she and her husband, an engineer, moved to the U.S. with their two young children.
Vickie worked for many years at Laguna Honda Hospital, first as a staff nurse on the night shift and later as head nurse. After her retirement she enjoyed frequent trips to Europe and China until a serious fall limited her travels. Now the grandmother of five goes to church and plays mahjong weekly, exercises and does tai chi every morning, and enjoys watching Chinese movies. Her AWE classes are the first time she has ever painted. She feels she's learned some lessons in life: "Always look forward, forget the past, trust in God, don't complain, and be happy."
