Apr 2, 2018 · 8:00 AM
Last Conversations with Yéye
In the spring of 2018 I sat with Yéye every Thursday afternoon with a recorder and a notebook. He was seventy-eight and tired, but his stories were sharp. He ta…
By Sophia Park
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Wei Chen
Patriarch · Grandfather · 1940–2019
Born in Guangzhou, Wei arrived in New York in 1965 with a suitcase and an apprenticeship. He opened a small shop on Roosevelt Avenue in 1978 and became the quiet heart of every family gathering — always first to arrive, last to leave.
Related stories
Aug 16, 2008 · 8:00 AM
The First Big Reunion Picnic
By 2008 the family had sprawled across three boroughs and two time zones. We decided on a picnic in Flushing Meadows — the same park where Mom and Dad had wande…
By Elena Chen-Rivera
Jul 20, 1985 · 8:00 AM
Summer in San Juan, 1985
The summer I turned twelve, Mom took Elena and me to San Juan for three weeks while Dad stayed with the shop. It was the first time I understood that half of wh…
By Miguel Chen-Rivera
Mar 3, 1978 · 7:00 AM
The Shop on Roosevelt Avenue
I signed the lease on a narrow storefront on Roosevelt Avenue in February 1978. Carmen said I was crazy. Elena was eight and asked if she could help choose the …
By Wei Chen
Aug 22, 1970 · 8:00 AM
Wedding Day, Flushing Meadows
Mom and Dad were married on a humid August afternoon in Flushing. The reception was in the church basement — fold-out tables, paper flowers, and a reception Wei…
By Elena Chen-Rivera
Jun 14, 1968 · 8:00 AM
The Dance at St. Mark's
I was twenty-three, finishing nursing school, and my cousin dragged me to a community dance at St. Mark's Church in the East Village. I almost stayed home. Than…
By Carmen Rivera Chen
Sep 12, 1965 · 8:00 AM
A Suitcase and a Promise
In September 1965, Wei Chen stepped off a freighter in Brooklyn with one suitcase, a letter of introduction to a shop in Queens, and a promise he had made to hi…
By Sophia Park
Related photos
Sophia recording Wei's stories on the porch, spring 2018.
Apr 2, 2018 · 8:00 AM · Oral Histories
An easy evening at Carmen's table — three generations leaning in.
Sep 6, 1992 · 8:00 AM · Gatherings
Family on the malecón in San Juan, summer 1985.
Jul 22, 1985 · 8:00 AM · Travel
Wei in the garden behind the Flushing house, late afternoon light.
Mar 5, 1978 · 7:00 AM · Family portraits
Wei and Carmen on their wedding day, Flushing, August 1970.
Aug 22, 1970 · 8:00 AM · Weddings & milestones