Yang Yufang fixes a lock at his home. WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY
Life continues
Although Gao and Yang returned to Tangshan independently, they both moved into a clinic owned by the city, and met as patients there in 1981.
In the past four decades, more than 1,800 people paralyzed in the earthquake have been treated at the clinic, and 120 of them still live there.
In the 1980s, all college graduates were assigned jobs by the government, and in 1982, when Gao had recovered, she was given a job as a preschool teacher. Despite her background as an engineering major in college, she was gratified to be given a teaching job.
In those days, college graduates were seen as real talents and were often known as "State treasures". Gao still keeps in touch with her college friends. "They are successful and making their contributions. They are leaders in factories, and some are even successful politicians. Sometimes I envy their success, but my life is peaceful and happy," she said.
She remembers Aug 15, 1982, her first day at work clearly: "I was so excited. I was no longer a loser. I had a job and I earned money. I love children. Sometimes when kids cried and would not leave their mom and dad, some parents put the child on my legs. Because I could not feel my legs, I never tired of the children sitting on them."
Once Gao had a job, she took her paralyzed mother under her wing. "At first, one of my brothers took care of my mother. He treated her very well, but I sometimes worried about him. Without a job and with a paralyzed mother to look after, what girl would marry him?"
