Submitted by Deyung Chou, Memory Community.
STEILACOOM – Here is the concise story of a local and global non-profit organization, Memory Community. I am the founder, Deyung Chou, a veteran filmmaker and poet hailed from Taiwan. Memory Community was incorporated in Washington State in 2011. Now we are located in the Town of Steilacoom.
Our goals and objectives are to create an accessible resource that helps our elders, baby-boomers tell their stories. In the meantime, our stand-out “movie memoir” project for older adults means to connect the young and the old, increase our understanding of those before us who help us be who we are, and honor the generations before us and show our appreciation by preserving their memories. We are not; however, a medical entity for memory care of many people’s assumption which is generated by our name that is comprised by “memory” and “community”. Our motto is, “We were born. We grow. We age. We remember. We are all in one great memory community.”
Why do we do this? This is a question we have been frequently asked. Our philosophy is as below.
Celebrities publish biographies to tell their stories. What about ordinary people? They should have memoirs too. This is because everyone has a story and because our sense of history is enriched by hearing about the life experiences of everyday people. The senior population is growing rapidly but is often neglected and regarded as having nothing more to contribute to society. In fact, many of them have untold and fascinating stories, and this project aims to encourage them to share so that the generations after them can benefit from this priceless and vast reservoir of knowledge.
I have long been interested in working with elderly people, especially those who are disadvantaged and have few resources. Although I have a long history in filmmaking, I regret not taking enough time to record my own parents’ stories because I was too busy and kept putting it off. Like my late parents, many of our elders do not feel their stories being worth telling and do not feel comfortable displaying their emotions in front of a camera, therefore in public. However, I have found this population to be very eager to share and pass on their life experiences, if only we are willing to ask and listen. Since the passing of my mother in 2007, my desire to collect life stories from our elders has intensified, and I am now dedicating my time, energy, and skills to help preserve memories and family histories for our elders, their families, and our communities.
Our senior population is growing rapidly and becoming increasingly diverse. We strive to serve anyone, including minority and immigrant groups, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Everyone has a story worth documenting, whether it be for the purpose of making a personal memoir, leaving a family legacy, or for educational purposes. We hope this project will also help strengthen generational relationships, because interactions between the old and the young are mutually beneficial.
Chinese people have a saying: every elder is a treasure in family. Let’s treasure memories of our elders.
We have another project which is called Memory Country Person Project (MCPP). As an alternative to our signature project as mentioned above which is called Memory Community Movie Memoir (MCMM), MCPP is to serve people not limited to over 50 years of age for their stories in life.
Readers can get more insights into Memory Community and its services via the link: www.memorycountry.org. Readers can also access our select movie memoirs and get to know our movie memoir owners on our YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@memorycommunity.
The following is a growing list of movie memoir titles of seniors (including a cat) we have been granted the honor to serve in the past 12 years (in backward order). Every one of them shared stories that are memorable and valuable, and learnable.
Laura Oviedo Jiménez – An Immigrant’s Journey
Pat O’Brien
A veteran, a writer, and a man who wore many hats before working as a legal process server. He’s eloquent and candid in sharing his love stories and tales of growing up.
Yvonne Zubalik
A Franke Tobey Jones resident talks about her career as a teacher, her children, her Mediterranean tour, and her hobbies in a very gracious manner.
Marge Guggenmos
Marge, a retired nurse, a loving mother of two, shares some of her life stories with her oldest daughter. The “Unsuitable Sailor” episode would make you smile, even feel related.
William Beier
A multi-instrumentalist shares his memories of growing up in Indiana and supporting three presidents as an adult while teaching a guitar lesson in his residence in Bellevue, Washington.
Tabitha Reborn
Tabitha was the main character in our 2017 special production, “TABITHA.” She was also our Executive Assistant in our director’s office. Needless to say we are terribly sorry for losing her. Tabitha is remembered deeply. Her new life on the other side had just begun.
Marc Smason
This is a revered Seattle-based musician’s movie-memoir. Marc Smason is a trombonist, vocalist, and composer. His life-long musical journey is presented in this documentary-feature that is apart from conventional storytelling.
Visiting Verlin
Verlin C. Grimes was born in 1913. He has an incredible memory. Visited by Chaplain Kevin Henne, he delightedly shared his some serious, some funny stories on camera.
Tabitha – A Meow Memoir
This is a truly special presentation from Memory Community. It was inspired by Tabitha’s mama, who also wrote the script and lent her voice to the film.
Yinne Wang: The Rain has stopped
This work is an homage to a pioneer who made her reputation in an era in Taiwan’s film industry where male directors were dominating.
The Storys
A Vietnam War veteran held creatively memorable ceremonies to honor the Independence Day by firing a cannon in his warm and cozy neighborhood.
Zhou Dye 周代
A self-taught writer of short story, novel, poetry and essay, Zhou Dye fled to Taiwan as a lonely young adult before the Communists’ taking-over of China in mid-20th century. His three books, Perplexed at the Bridge, Strings of Life, and Dawn, were published in almost forty years.
A Movie Memoir of Christina Swift
An elegant lady of aristocratic Austrian origin remembers her childhood in New York, her first Beatles record, and her most favorite novel, among many other life events.
Moments with Lu Chi Fa
Lu Chi Fa, also known as Gordon Lu, runs a popular restaurant and leads a healthy life. His biography “Double Luck – Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan” is a bestseller. He loves traveling and watching sea lions.
Key Donn remembers Wong Tsu
Nearly 100 years ago, a young Chinese named Wong Tsu was hired by William Boeing, the founder of Boeing Company. Nearly 100 years later, Key Donn, who works at the same company, vividly remembers his legendary co-worker.
Betty Thompson-Tindall
A painter uses her kind heart and soft touches to draw pictures of residents at an assisted-living home she volunteers at. She also recounts fond family stories that forever bring a smile to her face.
Gretchen Wilbert
Gretchen Swayze Wilbert in this documentary feature reminiscences of her family life since childhood and her mayoral life which spanned 16 good years in Gig Harbor, Washington state, USA.
Norita C. Martin
A loving and laughing lady, in front of her daughter Mary and her pet Joe, remembers the most peculiar figure in her childhood, her wedding gown made out of a war-time parachute, among other memorable things.
Y. Wang 王炎
A veteran Bridge player smokes and drinks, and looks forward to publishing his third book, One Hundred Years: A Possible Dream, 8 years later when he celebrates his 100th birthday.
Alice Yang 楊銀鳯
A publishing writer who enjoys riding her tricycle expresses great gratitude to her senior-high school teacher because of a letter of encouragement.
M-J Yang 莊茗蓁
An eloquent government retiree talks about her love for playing Bridge games and visiting hot springs.
Barbara Simpson
A heart-broken mother shares in a heart-felt long shot the saddest memory of her talented daughter whose life ended rather unprepared.
Bonnie Robinson-Johnson
A warm-hearted Tacoman reminds us of the power of love. She also thanks her children for being her children.
Robert Lee Smith
A Morning with Bob and Muffin — Muffin is nearly blind. Bob likes Taiwan very dearly. Muffin sadly passed away days after the filming.
Moowan Mark
A 100-year-old Legacy House resident, though shy, and helped by her caregiver, Kelly, with the language, gladly talks about herself.
Baizhong Lei
A Chinese medicine doctor helped patients in the past. Now in Seattle, he helps people with his pen.
Tingchen Chen
He is a father of seven beautiful daughters, and a retired successful businessman in New York stock market.
Zhonglian Tan
A Chinese woman tells us how she had to find and finally found a mother’s peace of mind in a big American city.
TLRC + MC = HAPPY HOLIDAYS
This is a co-production of Tacoma Lutheran Retirement Community and Memory Community.
The interviewees are (in order of appearance) :
Mary, Betty, Elizabeth, Bernice, Paul, Marlys, Alice, Teresa, Barbara, Helen, and Ed.
JIANDOU WU
A former lawyer and teacher, though comfortable living in Seattle, misses his home country.
VINH NGUYEN
A Vietnamese gentleman worked hard for 25 years until that unforgettable night…now in his Legacy House apartment room, he recalls his hard journey from his home country to the USA.
PATRICIA BLACK
A tall, lean Franke Tobey Jones resident shares with us her interest in home economics and hiking with family.
DR. DUANE RICHARDSON
A former Navy, then a councilor, left with us his last words and images at his apartment in Franke Tobey Jones before he passed away in late 2012. This film, done in 2011, later came to be in memory of Dr. Richardson.
EVE LELAND
A New York-born lady remembers her most unforgettable life experience outside North America.
REMEMBER (promotional)
We were born. We grow. We age. We remember. We are all in one great memory community.
MEMORY COMMUNITY MOVIE MEMOIR PROJECT (introduction)
Deyung, the creator of the project, speaks about his vision and mission.
(end)
