Taking care of two ALS sons, she became a food blogger to make a living
The "to taste" of the world outside the kitchen
Lu Aimei's day is not free.
As the mother of two ALS sons, she seems omnipotent.
The eldest son, Zhu Xiaoqiang, was ill at the age of 8, and the second son, Zhu Xiaomeng, was ill at the age of 10. Since the disease has deteriorated, they can only lie on the bed or the table, unable to take care of themselves.
Grocery shopping, cooking, feeding, dressing, intubation... Lv Aimei seems to have no chance of respite in her life, and taking care of her inseparably constitutes her daily life.
Photo courtesy of Lu Aimei, Zhu Xiaoqiang, and Zhu Xiaomeng interviewees
Lu Aimei, 60 years old this year, has entered the life of more than 500,000 fans on the Internet by relying on more than 1,000 food videos on the short video platform. Everyone is also paying attention to this mother's life outside the kitchen.
Reporter Tian Ruye Zhang Xikun
Find a way for your child to live
This year is the 31st year that Lv Aimei has taken care of her two sons with ALS, and the 10th year that she has left her hometown with her children.
Lu Aimei was about 1.5 meters tall, and her hair was already gray. Although she had never gone to school and was illiterate, she had an idea.
Lv Aimei's hometown is in Zhumadian, Henan, and her husband is 13 years older than her. When she first got married, her family was considered a happy one.
"Xiaoqiang was diagnosed at the age of 8, his condition deteriorated at the age of 13, and Xiaomeng was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 10. Like his brother, his condition deteriorated at the age of 16."
As her two sons fell ill and her husband suffered from neural deafness, Lu Aimei's nightmare began.
In order to treat her son and support her family, Lv Aimei sold jelly, rice wine, naan, and raised pigs and chickens.
The family got out of control, and the husband blamed her for his sons' illness and his own deafness, and abuse and beatings became the norm.
"Children are always bullied, and I'm often looked down upon." Lu Aimei was not reconciled, she didn't want to owe her son, and she didn't want his son to live like this.
So, she prepared an agricultural motorcycle tricycle and decided to take the children out of the house.
On the day she left, Lu Aimei dared to leave at 2:00 in the morning.
She quietly carried the children to the car one by one, tiptoed to start a fire, and rode the car out of the village entrance.
They went all the way north and arrived in Zhengzhou three days later.
The days of wandering abroad are destined to be hard and downright, especially for Lu Aimei.
At that time, she only carried more than 1,200 yuan of money with her, and she was not familiar with the place of life. She could only drag the children to live in the hut of the bank's ATM.
"I took Xiaomeng to lie down in the house for a while, and the eldest had to ride on the tricycle." That summer, there was a lot of rain, and the tricycle could not block the wind or the rain. Lu Aimei bought a rain cloth, but the mother-in-law was often drenched in the rain. Gotta get soaked all over.
Zhu Xiaomeng was only 20 years old that year, and he prefers to call this experience "escape".
After falling ill, he and his brother dropped out of school. Because of their inability to move, they could only be locked at home, and they never even saw the trees outside. "At that time, the leaves were blown to and fro, which was novel to me, and my mother took us out. took a different path.”
Indispensable daughter-in-law
The gradually deteriorating condition made Lu Aimei, Zhu Xiaoqiang and Zhu Xiaomeng's mother three tightly bound together.
"No mother can bear to give up a child. Xiaoqiang and Xiaomeng are both my good children." Behind Lu Aimei's words "can't bear", she has made efforts that ordinary people can't imagine and bear.
In 2017, Zhu Xiaoqiang suddenly became seriously ill and was sent to the intensive care unit.
At the door of the intensive care unit, Lv Aimei cried and shouted to her son, "Xiaoqiang, Xiaoqiang, don't leave your mother behind." Zhu Xiaoqiang was hospitalized for nine months, while Lv Aimei took care of her by the bedside for nine months.
Today, Zhu Xiaoqiang sucks phlegm more than a dozen times a day and lives "artificially" on a ventilator.
Because of the tracheotomy, he could only speak normally when Lu Aimei blocked the ventilation holes on the device for him. On weekdays, he could only knock on the bed board. Whenever there was a sound, Lu Aimei would jog over and help him turn over. , phlegm, and tube replacement.
Xiaomeng's condition is slightly better than his brother's. In order to prevent Xiaomeng from sitting in the same position for too long, Lu Aimei will also ask him to change his sitting position every once in a while.
The residence of the mother and son was rented eight years ago, but it was only a few dozen square meters. In such a small and cramped activity space, Lu Aimei was so tired every day that the soles of her feet were sore, and even "sometimes the soles of her feet did not dare to touch the ground."
Taking care of ALS patients is undoubtedly a tiring job, but Lv Aimei's love for her son has always been delicate.
There are many small cotton pads on Zhu Xiaoqiang's bed, some for legs and some for waist. "With small cotton pads, it will be more comfortable for the child to lie on at least." These large and small cotton pads are all It was made by Lu Aimei with one stitch and one thread. Every once in a while, she disassembles and washes it so that Xiaoqiang can use a clean and comfortable cushion.
"As long as I have a breath, I will take good care of the child." Since her two sons fell ill, Lv Aimei had hardly slept a whole night, but she still insisted on being her son's most solid supporter.
Lv Aimei is showing off the dumplings she made.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
"Mother Lu" with 500,000 fans on the whole network
In June 2019, the two sons proposed to Lv Aimei to shoot videos on the short video platform and become food bloggers.
Shooting video is undoubtedly a challenge for the three of them.
"Everything my mother cooks is delicious food." Between these small pots and stoves, Aimei Lu has become the "Mother Lu" in the hearts of more people.
Lu Aimei loves to laugh, and in the video, she is always holding a vegetable plate and smiling at the camera.
The name "A mother is a blessing" was decided by Zhu Xiaomeng.
The division of labor among the three is also very clear. Mom is in charge of appearing and shooting; Zhu Xiaoqiang is in charge of the idea of the video, and Zhu Xiaomeng is in charge of editing.
For a short video of less than three minutes, they will be busy all day or more.
At the beginning, Lv Aimei often made jokes because of the operation of mobile phones, and electronic products were always full of unknowns for people of her age.
"Sometimes I don't know what I have clicked, and I can't operate it when I go back. It's really difficult." Sometimes I don't click the record button while shooting a video. Focus, Lu Aimei is often busy in vain.
It wasn't just Lu Aimei who felt difficult.
Xiaomeng, who is in charge of editing, can only move his index and middle fingers up and down. With the support made by Lu Aimei, he can barely support the editing video.
The original video was cut, and his hands were rubbed with blood.
The income from making the video just now was only three or five yuan, but Lu Aimei didn't dare to give up, "That's money, kids need money."
Lu Aimei chose to persevere, and the two sons were still very happy.
Because of insisting on shooting every day, more and more fans are following Lv Aimei, and everyone started to order food.
Henan braised noodles, fried dough sticks, fried sesame leaves, fried naan, tofu brain, and later, Lv Aimei will also make some creative snacks: cotton candy mousse, watermelon jelly, cloud cake, rainbow cake...
The story of Aimei Lu and her two sons with ALS gradually became well known, and everyone was paying attention to the mother's life outside the kitchen.
Last year, at the strong request of fans, Lv Aimei began to live broadcast with her two sons, and the live broadcast room was set up at home.
Today, the account has published more than 1,000 food videos, and Lv Aimei's expressions and operations are becoming more and more familiar.
After she put on the apron and set up the stand, she began to shoot, and sometimes even spoke in Henan dialect synchronously. At 8:30 in the evening, the three girls would also start broadcasting on time.
From the beginning of filming videos and live broadcasts, Lv Aimei has made thousands of dollars, which is not a small gain for her and her son.
"I don't know how to read, but I will let Xiaomeng see which videos have the highest number of views. I'm happy." As netizens said, Mama Lu brought a different "to taste" in the world.