On the same week I
visited my dad, I attended my grandfather's funeral. Though it was a sad event, my grandfather lived a full and happy life. He had the opportunity to say goodbye to everyone before passing away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. He was 89 years old.
My grandfather with my dad in the late sixties.
My grandmother and my grandfather in the nineties.
Here's a
video of our family (with
Woomi) visiting him two years ago to celebrate his birthday:
He was fluent in the
Ningbo and
Shanghai dialect of Chinese, and spoke basic English. Every time I visited my Grandfather, he would ask me: "So, you cannot speak Chinese anymore?" I'd reply that I could understand the language but not speak it well. Eventually, I just said: "No, not really."
For a farewell gift, I wanted to say something to him in Chinese. So I crocheted him this speech bubble with something he and I shared: our last name.
I felt fortunate to place the speech bubble in his casket before the cremation ceremony.
Most of the eulogies were spoken in Chinese, where I learned he was married to my grandma for sixty-nine years, that he spent cautiously on himself but was generous to others, that he loved practicing
calligraphy and listening to
Chinese operas, that he was an even-tempered dad, and that he treated his six daughters and one son equally. He taught them to keep their promises, as he was was a man of his word.
Hsien Teh Woo, 1921-2010
May you rest in peace, Grandfather.
