Author: Maxine Chan (陈玉婵)
Company: Maxine Kitchen
Specialty: Culinary Arts
Adversity is not the end.
it is the beginning of rebirth.
The value of life lies not in perfection, but in authenticity.
Maxine’s Journey
My story began with polio at the age of one. Before nine, I moved through the world on my hands and knees.
But life has a way of sending light through the cracks.
When I was seven, my parents tirelessly searched for a school willing to accept me —
and they found one.
At nine, the Lions Club donated my very first wheelchair, opening a window to a wider world I had never imagined.
At thirteen, a new secondary school was built right at my doorstep, giving me the chance to continue my studies. But at eighteen, family finances pulled me out of school and pushed me into the working world.
I became a tuition teacher, sold lottery tickets, and eventually with a friend’s help, found a front-desk job.
At twenty-eight, I stepped into marriage.
At thirty, I welcomed my first child (and later, two more blessings).
Life moved between family and work: from full-time mother, to supporting my husband’s business, to returning to the workforce as an HR clerk in a telecommunications company once the children grew older.
Then came fifty.
The lingering effects of polio, mixed with menopause, weighed heavily on both body and spirit.
And so, I made a decision，to do something I had never dared to do: travel alone.
My solo journey to the UK stitched confidence back into my soul.
After returning home, I grew bolder I climbed the Great Wall, and even experienced scuba diving.
Later, I followed my passion for cooking and turned it into a small online food business.
As my energy gradually declined, I transitioned into a path that suited me better becoming a content creator,
using words to record, heal, and share the chapters of my life.