I went to A Mano for Wednesday night S&B. It was good to see old friends. Those ladies can always make you laugh. I was told that the video segment that was taped in store will be aired on July 30th. It will be on the local Time Warner Cable On Demand, and CNN Headline News. I can imagine it being on the On Demand local edition. But CNN Headline News? I wonder how they will introduce it.
Archive for July, 2007
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Taiwan
2007
07.28
07.28
I took some pictures while in Taiwan. Not many. I got really sick on the third day. Strange that it was the third time in a row that I was sick when visiting Taiwan. I wonder…
This is the temple that my Mom’s ashes are housed. It’s located in Kao Hsiong, in the south.
New SOGO Shopping Center in Taipei
Don’t you find this funny? I wonder if anyone can actually do this? It’s a POP display inside the shopping center.
I am not so sure where this was. It’s near Dan Sui. It was super hot there.
High speed train. My first time on such a train. It was a smooth ride!
Ninety Percent
2007
07.25
07.25
We are 90% sure that we will be moving north. Our CEO is once again pressuring C to relocate and work in the main office located in Los Altos. So we decided to spent four days last week in the Bay Area to look around. C spent the first day working, giving me time to knit the Four Corner Hat. The second day we took a drive and went through Mountain View, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos, Belmont, San Mateo and Burlingame. I liked some of the places, but they really made C depressed. C does not like suburbs at all and none of those cities made him feel good about the prospect of moving.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Half Moon Bay to C. I remember reading it somewhere. Maybe on Sylvia’s blog? So, on the third day we drove out to Half Moon Bay to get a feel how far it was and what it looked like. We absolutely fell in love with it. It’s a small coastal city. The weather there was fantastic! A small downtown area that has most things. We walked down Main street and C said, “why don’t we open a yarn shop here?” No sooner did he utter those words that we came upon Fengari, a HUGE yarn store. Naturally, I went in for a visit and talked to one of the owners. I did some checking online and found that Half Moon Bay had a Yarn Spinner’s Guild and a Navajo Weaving Guild meeting at a local ranch – Elkus Ranch. How great is that? Elkus Ranch would like to get some cows. Anyone?
Here are some photos:
Downtown Half Moon Bay
Fengari, THE Yarn Store in Town
The Beach
More Photos of the Ocean
(Not sure if some of these are still in Half Moon Bay. But they are just minutes south of the city.)
It would be a dream to live there, don’t you think? There’s even a Episcopal church for C to go to. No Buddhist temple though.
Changing Vehicles
2007
07.23
07.23
A couple of you wrote about mom’s “journey” in your comments. Thought I would share something I wrote and spoke about to the English speaking guests who attended the funeral here in the States:
Thank you all for coming. Today we say farewell to our dear mother, Rose. But it really isn’t good-bye. Mom was a devout Buddhist. In the Buddhist view a person’s passing does not necessarily mark the end, but a turning point in one’s path. The closing of one chapter, the opening of a new one.
In travel there are many forms of transportation. Sometimes when we move from one point to another we need to change vehicles. We may travel to the airport by car, switch to an airplane, then to a car again. We need to make the switch when the circumstances call for a change in order to continue on the journey. We cannot simply sit in the car when we arrive at the airport and expect to reach our destination, can we?
Mom had reached such a point on her path that she needed to change vehicles for her journey. And we rejoice because we know it is like switching from a car to an airplane for her. She will be traveling so much faster. It maybe a little sad for us to see her fly away, just like saying good-bye to loved ones at the airport. But we know she will be very very happy at her next destination.
So, thank you all again for coming to join us in saying farewell to our mother, and to wish her best of luck on her continuing journey. May it be a most auspicious one, and may she attain true peace and happiness. That is every Buddhist’s ultimate goal.
Oh! I finished “knitting” the Four Corner Hat on our trip to the Bay Area. Not quite “done”. Still have to sew the top of the brim to the crown. I completed the crown months ago. But it was getting warm and I wanted to make something cool for Mom. So I got some cotton blend and knitted Shedir. I am so glad that she was able to wear that a few times.
The next post will be about our trip north. Honest!
I Miss Her
2007
07.22
07.22
Sitting in a hotel room in Mountain View, California, I thought about calling Mom. I had the urge to pick up my cell phone to call her, to check on her, and let her know everything was fine. But that was no longer possible. My Mom passed away on June 18 from a complication due to her health condition.
Many of you contacted during my long period of silence. Sorry that I haven’t responded until now. Last couple of months were tough. I withdrew within myself. My extreme introverted personality really kicked in.
You all know that I complained about two of my sisters. It got really bad. My sister Lily who lived with Mom was on drugs. One day she turned on the stove not knowing that it failed to ignite. Mom sitting in the kitchen with all the windows and doors closed. Luckily I was there in time to turn off the stove and open the windows. Yet, with that going on, my sister Julie refused to take Mom in her home to get better care. Even though she had a housekeeper and could provide Mom better care, Julie made up lies to reject the idea. It was stupid of her because she told different stories to different people. The stories didn’t match up when some of us started talking to one another. It was truly unbelievable.
I had to get my other sister Angela, who lives in Taiwan, to come and help me make arrangements for Mom. She came and saw how serious it was. I volunteered to move in with Mom under the condition of having Lily moved out. Everyone agreed. Everyone.
Mom’s condition started deteriorating rapidly after Angela left. She could not help herself at all. She started to forget everything and Lily was just oblivious to Mom’s condition. Mom wasn’t eating right, not drinking water, not taking medication. I had to move her out. Angela and I forced Julie to take her in until I was able to move in.
Julie’s housekeeper took very good care of Mom. Mom was eating every meal, and lots of it. She was taking medication on time. She was doing great! Then in Friday night, June 15, she started having great difficulty breathing after coming out of the bathroom. She was rushed to the Emergency room. The doctor put her on the ventilator. She wasn’t able to breath on her own at all. Later the doctor found out it was a blood clot that travelled to her lungs, blocking the blood flow to the heart. The doctors announced that it could be time for her to go. We continued hoping for the best. But on Monday her kidney started failing. She was under a heavy dose of morphine for pain control. Her blood pressure was kept in control with heavy medication and it was starting to fail. The doctor sat us down to talk about letting her go.
Mom passed away that night with a roomful of people chanting for her. She only stayed a few more minutes after they took away the life support.
The following weeks were all about preparing for her funeral services. We had one here in the States. Her body was cremated. We then took her ashes and flew to Taiwan where we had another service before heading south to place her ashes in one of our Buddhist teachers’ temple. It was a temple that she visited at least once a year when she was still here.
I flew back to the States alone and very sick. I had a tough time. I felt like my life was taken from me. Everything continued to go on around me and yet nothing was the same. I couldn’t sleep at night. I was finally going through the deeper emotions after weeks of busy activities. I had a tough time accepting that she was gone from my life.
I am much better now. I am starting to think about the future without feeling guilty. And I know she is not gone. She’s just in a different place.
This is one of the last pictures I took of my Mom. I sent one of these to get Angela to come to the States fast. Mom was still trying to be cute even though she was very sick.
This is a picture of the memorial service in Taipei, Taiwan. That’s Angela talking about Mom.
The place where Mom’s ashes are housed.
I sincerely thank you for continuing to email me, post comments, call me, to just check up on me. I am really sorry that I kept silent for so long. I think I am back. You all really helped me push forward. We are also talking about moving up North again, which is why I was in Mountain View. Going away really helped too. That will be the next post.
I really miss my Mom. It is still difficult sometimes. But I know it is going to be OK.
