Rachel and Ben’s commemoration
Rachel and Ben have invited all of you to a commemorative celebration on Teri’s 10th anniversary of her moving on below – if you have not already received an invitation. It is hard to imagine 10 years have passed … and what has transpired. This celebration is a do-it-yourselves food exercise, all in good taste. Rachel has shared Teri’s original recipe for jiaozi (jow zzz) dumplings for you to make by hand as in the ancient days of yore! These can be boiled or fried as ‘pot stickers’, either way, yummy.
There is a back story. Growing up in Iowa City and New York City, there were no frozen dumplings or even premade wrappers. You had to make the dough, roll it into a long thread, cut them into uniform pieces, and roll each into a thin round wrapper, powdered flour everywhere. When we landed in Columbus, one of my favorite memories was making them as a family with Rachel and Ben pitching in. Teri’s instructed me to squeeze all the water out of the frozen spinach and stir the filling in one direction only till thoroughly mixed. After placing a dollop of filling in the wrapper, we lined the edge with water, folded it in half, pleated one side in both directions, pressed hard, and, voila a jiaozi that stood up in the frying pan!
We made these by the 200s and froze them into our own comfort fast food. These dumplings are eaten specially during Chinese New Year as their crescent shape symbolizes gold ingots and the wish for wealth in the coming year. These jiaozi date back to … at least Han dynasty 200 BC as one excavated tomb shown during Exhibition of Archaeological Finds of the PRC in 1974-75 contained a petrified crescent jiaozi. So yes, our ancestors ate them just the same!
Teri used this recipe for her in-person kitchen tutorial as a fundraiser in various silent auctions over the years. And Rachel has taken these dumplings a step further with modifications, in-person demonstrations and even catering. Teri would be proud.
Teri Li Award
It is heartwarming for me to hear Teri’s name mentioned every year in our professional society. One can direct their donation to her fund. Next, applications are fielded for the award and the winner is announced at annual Awards Ceremony. I add Teri’s touch by sending each winner a bouquet of Teri’s favorite tropical flowers from Hawaii. And I enclose the following letter to let them know a little about Teri.
Letter to the Teri Li Award Recipient
Once again, let me offer my heartiest congratulations on your national award for early career educators who have made outstanding educational contributions to pediatric gastroenterology.
I wanted to give you a little bit of background on Teri Li so you have a sense of who she was.
We met in college, later married and raised two children and three dogs. Rachel (and John) with 10-year old Jack and 8-year old Naomi in NJ is an active mother who has completed four Ironwoman Triathlons and many other events. Ben (and Theresa) with 3-year old Flora and 13 month old Juna in Denver is a EM faculty. Teri was a ‘natural’ Montessori teacher and applied the principles in our home – our children were her number one priority. She firmly believed in the importance of early education (preschool) and after receiving her 3rd Montessori certification to include infants, I joked that she would soon be doing prenatal Montessori education. She responded, “the earlier the better!”
That emphasis on the ‘earlier the better’ inspired the Teri Li Award for early career educators. Rather than a life-time achievement award, she would have wanted to provide early recognition in order to further your long career in medical education. And as you well know, educational contributions, despite the lip service, are often undervalued. As one who shunned the limelight Teri would be utterly flabbergasted to have a national award named after her.
Teri was active in the Unitarian Church, volunteered constantly in Meals on Wheels, food pantries, and the Columbus International Program, and, started an Asian Womyns’ Group. She advocated for diversity wherever she was. She was mindful and present before those terms became popular. She was my full partner, a great mother, my icon of diversity and enabled me to fulfill my potential.
Several months after trips to climb Yellow Mountain in Anhui, China, to Italy and to celebrate Rachel and John’s wedding, she developed aggressive acute myeloid leukemia. She underwent two rounds of chemotherapy and two stem cell transplants but experienced numerous complications that required nearly a year in-hospital days during her 19-month illness. Throughout, she expressed attitude (‘Teri kicking butt ’ was her motto), grace and finally equanimity. She achieved her top two bucket priorities, to hold her first grandchild and to see Ben admitted to medical school. When she decided to stop all therapy, in a flash we organized a completely unique ‘awake’ wake with her family and friends from east and west coasts who gathered around to honor her in person!
Teri’s last teaching moment occurred during her final week of life at our annual welcome party for incoming Asian American medical students. Although unable to stand, she sat in a recliner. When she overheard one student criticizing another school, she asked me to bring him over. She said to him, “It’s not about where your school is ranked [by US News/Report], it’s about what you do with your career, how you demonstrate your passion and compassion! [and you have a ways to go]”
Teri was a special individual and would have loved to meet you (and your family) and learn all about your accomplishments. Keep up the good work!
Teri’s 10th on September 2nd
We all miss her. Even though she didn’t have a chance to meet her three grand girls, I definitely see her spunk, strength and independence in each of them. And even for me, her soft-powered lessons continue to mold me.
On Teri’s 10th, we hope you enjoy a shared memory and send a thought her way. And, at your leisure, enjoy Teri’s jiaozi dumplings! And send a picture to Rachel.
