The Beautician Mouth Painter - Gao, Shu-Jhuan
[Defeated disability to become a mouth painter]
Believe in yourself and stick to it, you can see the bright sunshine and the gorgeous flowers

- Gao, Shu-Jhuan

Uses motherly love to defeat disability
Formerly leading a good life, Gao, Shu-Jhuan almost totally paralyzed overnight in a car accident.

Initially supposing to support her, her husband ruthlessly left her and her children, and also left behind millions of debts.

Sad and helpless, she was fortunate enough to be looked after attentively by her sisters when she lost her ability to take care of herself, allowing her to restore the upper body functions and the opportunity to reborn.

To protect her children, she bravely faced all the difficulties and challenges. Much to her gratefulness, her children are very thoughtful and filial piety.

After the children have grown up, and after much thinking, she gave up the pursuit of career achievement and returned to junior high school to study.

To achieve the goal of self-realization, she has adhered persistently to the spirit of “never stop learning,” and completed junior high school, senior high school, and university successively. Thorough the schooling period, she has maintained excellent academic performances.

She was a model student both in Youth Senior High School and Hsiuping University of Science and Technology.

Challenges the limits to become a mouth painter
In an accidental opportunity, she participated in the Spinal Cord Injury Association, Taichung City and began singing for public welfare and practicing table tennis as an interest.

She started to challenge oil painting creation with her mouth, relying on daily practices through biting the paint brushes to paint. She has since then accumulated a touching rhythm of life experience. She also hopes to hold a personal exhibition in her lifetime to encourage more people to create their possibilities with his life history.

Whereby, Gao, Shu-Jhuan has exerted her ultimate maternal love, striving to overcome the unfavorable physical, psychological and environmental issues, challenging the limits, overcoming the disability, and creating a new page in her life path through the creation of oil paintings. She deserves to be praised as a “Beautician Mouth Painter,” and stood out among 2,723 recommended candidates from all over the world and earned her the “22nd Fervent Global Love of Lives Award 2019” from Taiwan’s Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation.

The Foundation welcomes all walks of life around the world at any time to recommend candidates of life warriors who possess the contexts of endeavors, love, braveness, and achievement.
 
The Fervent Global Love of Lives Medal - Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation, Taiwan
Recommended hotline: 886-2-29178770
Fax: 886-2-29178768
Address: 3F, No. 52, Mingde Road, Xindien District, New Taipei City 231, Taiwan
Website: http://www.ta.org.tw
Email: ta88ms17@gmail.com

Sharing family affairs since childhood
In 1960, Shu-Jhuan was born in Fuxing Township, Changhua County, where the people live a simple and honest life. Anticipating that their children would have a bright future, her parents were stringent on her and other eight sisters on discipline.
Being farmers for generations, her parents worked very hard to take care of nine children.
Sympathetic about the hard work their parents are enduring, the sisters took care of each other and shared the family affairs to let their parents live in ease and comfort.

Helping people with beauty
Likes to look pretty since childhood, she did not pursue her education after graduating from junior high school.
She chose to work in the bustling Taipei City instead. At that time, she picked to learn “beauty” and “sewing” courses to serve as her essential expertise of social experience.
Her beauty business was thriving then, where she helped people to become pretty.

Thrived in both family affairs and career
Shu-Jhuan used to have a sweet and warm home. She usually went outings with her two children to visit various scenic spots during the weekends.
They have left footprints of love in all parts of Taiwan.
At that time, her husband had his own business, and she was a beautician. At the age of 28, she opened a beauty salon with a thriving business, making a monthly income of more than NT$100,000. Her father was very proud of her then.

Crippled in a car accident and abandoned by her husband
When Shu-Jhuan’s career was booming, an unexpected event happened. While on her way to work, she met a car accident in June 1992.
On the third day of her injury, her husband left her and their children, and also left behind more than NT$1 million debts. He was out of sight in their lives since then.
She was frightened, sad, and helpless then, but her husband’s ruthlessness has made her stand strong and independent instead.
Today, she is delighted, as her son is an outstanding kid and her daughter won a Filial Piety Award in 1996.

Grateful to the family for their selfless love
Recalling the car accident, she was almost totally paralyzed and lost her ability to take care of herself.
Now she can restore her upper body and open up a new life, all because of the meticulous care from her sisters.
Not only are her sisters a close kinship, but also her benefactors.
Whenever she thinks of her unfortunate destiny, she would cherish the family members even more.
Without them, she could not have the chance to reborn again today.

Our family’s dowry is mother
The 10-year-old daughter took care of Shu-Jhuan, who was almost fully paralyzed and helped her change the diapers.
She said to her daughter: “What mother owes you today will repay you in the next life.” Her daughter said she didn’t want her mother to repay her but wanted her mother to get well soon.
She remembered once that her parents went on a tour, her children had gone to schools, and she was left alone at home. At noon, her daughter hurried back with a lunch box to feed her. Sweating profoundly and didn’t have the time to wipe them off, she said to her mom:” Mom, I’ve been thinking of you all day long today.”
She asked her daughter: “Why didn’t you pay attention in class instead of thinking of me.”
The daughter said: “I’m afraid that if there were a fire, you couldn’t escape while lying in bed.”

While massaging her one day, the son suddenly said to her: “Mom, I know I have a great responsibility because I’m the eldest son.”
Then the daughter said worriedly: “When brother and I have grown up and got married, what would happen to you being alone?”
She said to her daughter jokingly: “It doesn’t matter. When the time has come for you to get married, don’t forget to tell your husband that you don’t have a dowry, the dowry of our family is mother.”
Shu-Jhuan thanked God for giving her a pair of sensible kids!

A family of three clings to each other
At the initial stage of injury, she thought of ​​ending her life as the generally injured victims did, but she was not courageous enough to do that stupid thing.
At the time, her son was just six years old, and her daughter only four years old. Her death would cause Shu-Jhuan’s parents to feel sad.
If the children have lost their mother, they would be handed back to her ex-husband. If her ex-husband has remarried, the children would probably abuse by their stepmother. How would they turn up?
She suddenly realized that she could not die and said to herself: “Even if I want to die, I will die after my children have grown up!” Now that her children have grown up, she would not die either because she hasn’t become a grandmother yet!

Throughout her life journey, the three of them mutually depend on each other. When she cries, her children would cry too.
From helpless to self-reliant, the three of them have learned to stick together and faced difficulties together.
When her son was studying in senior high school, the family moved out from her parent’s home and stationed in Taichung.
To make a living, she sold lottery tickets day and night and dared not rest on weekends and New Year days. Time has quickly passed by, and her children have also gradually grown up.

Never stops learning and returns to school
When Shu-Jhuan has grown a little bit older, she suddenly thought of enriching her life.
After much consideration, she gave up her pursuit of career achievement and chose to settle down in her hometown, picked up the textbooks again, and returned to the school campus.
Over the years, she has completed her studies from junior high school, senior high school, and university.

Not to let herself regret, she has always been conscientious and active in learning. She was very fortunate to receive an honorable award of 1^st place in class.
With recognition from her teachers and support from her classmates, she was elected as a model student in both Youth Senior High School and Hsiuping University of Science and Technology, and also won an honorable award from the County Magistrate.
To achieve her self-fulfilling goals, she has adhered to the spirit of “never stop learning.” She has continued to perform well in her academic performances, of which she is very proud.

Living a new life
When her upper body has gradually resumed mobility, she got acquainted with “The Disabled Choir” while visiting the Taichung City Spinal Cord Injury Association.
She began to sing for charity and also started to practice table tennis. As she can’t hold the bat, she would tie the bat on her hand. It was a challenge for her, but she worked hard for her interest.
She has even tried to challenge the impossible task of learning oil painting with her mouth.
Since started to learn painting, she has felt satisfied and productive. The stacking colors contain her passion for life and the composition of the pictures show the ingenuity of her present life, which she uses them as a diary to record her growth.

She uses her mouth to draw pictures, slowly sketching out the colors of her life.
She has been more fulfilling than ever. Painting has also made her concentrate and forgetting the numbness of her whole body.
She enjoys the happiness and affirmation brought by painting and believes that the colors of life must be created by personally.
Although she is physically disabled, she now lives more happily and more exciting than ever.

Because of doing oil paintings, she has made more friends and accumulated more beautiful memories. She then made a wish to hold a personal exhibition in her lifetime, which was held at the 4^th exhibition hall of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on April 17, 2019.
Singing, table tennis, and paintings have made her happy and filled her life with optimism, and helped her to face a learning attitude towards her failures. It is the change she has never experienced before the injury.
She said: “Perhaps, this is a test from God. I’ll try my best to recover, exert my full potential, and write a new milestone of my life.”

The meaning of life is service, and the value of life is a dedication
The ups and downs of life are growth experiences. The past has become illusory, the future is still a dream, and it is essential to grasp the present.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
The meaning of life is service, and the value of life is dedication.

Recently, she made a wish, hoping to use a grateful and repaying heart to counsel new injured friends through encouragement rather than consultations, letting them know that as long as they can breathe, there is unlimited hope. It is the most significant wealth.
She said: “I use empathy to care for the new injured friends, encouraging them with my most brilliant smile and letting them know that angels with broken wings can also live happily and wonderfully.”

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