On the occasion of their fiftieth anniversary

Victor & Stephanie's
Lives.

A memoir gathered for our family, in our own words.

February, 1946 — 2026 (so far)
I.

In their own words

Victor and Stephanie tell their stories.
Part I
  1. 1. Victor Victor describes his life from his birth in 1946 in Chengdu during the Sino-Japanese War, through his family's flight to Taiwan and Hong Kong, his journey to America and graduate school at MIT, and his pioneering research in speech understanding with Stephanie — closing with his rise to co-director of CSAIL and a life of contentment in Kauai surrounded by family.
  2. 2. Stephanie Stephanie reflects on her childhood as one of eight siblings in Mystic, Connecticut, her path to MIT, and falling in love with Victor as office mates at Lincoln Lab — then turns to fond memories of fifty years together, including raising four boys, the steady presence of Puo Puo, family vacations, and the long thread of Victor's heart problems.
II.

In the family’s words

The four children and family friends speak in turn.
Part II
  1. 3. Mike Mike reflects at length as the eldest of the four brothers on growing up at 15 Glengarry — the nightly round-table dinners and Pau Pau's kitchen magic, Sunday dinners capped by 60 Minutes, wild childhood adventures from Boston fishing trips to Wedge Pond canoeing to Nellie's rescue from the ice, and watching Vic and Mom model an affectionate, hard-fought marriage — closing with a meditation on childhood, memory, and mortality written for their 50th anniversary.
  2. 4. Greg Greg recalls growing up at 15 Glengarry in a bygone era of childhood freedom — anchored by Pua Pua's foundational presence in the kitchen, Victor's strict but loving parenting, Sunday dinners and 'SA FEN LO!', and the work parties, surf-rock band gigs, and family adventures that shaped him and his brothers.
  3. 5. Tim Tim looks back on a childhood at 15 Glengarry filled with love — Baba's cooking and 6pm dinners around the Lazy Susan, the house as the after-school gathering spot for Nintendo and wiffleball, watching the Celtics and Red Sox with Baba, family vacations from Hawaii to Idaho to Jamaica, an especially close bond with his younger brother Cory, and the unwavering care Mom and Baba showed through every injury and hard time.
  4. 6. Cory Cory recounts a happy childhood in a full Glengarry house, anchored by memories of Gung Gung, Pua Pua, his older brothers, and his years alongside Tim after Mike and Greg left for college — closing with the long-running Sunday Dinner tradition, family vacations around the world, and the values of trust, honesty, and partnership he now carries into his own marriage and parenting.
  5. 7. Others Tributes from outside the family — a remembrance from Rob Moore on sixty years of friendship since meeting Victor on the first day of college at the University of Florida, and a chapter from Prof. Wayne Chen's memoir, written by his children Avis and Tim, remembering Victor as the most brilliant student he ever taught and tracing their parallel paths as Chinese American pioneers in engineering.
With contributions from Victor, Stephanie, Mike, Greg, Tim & Cory. · Privately printed ·