Saturday, December 13, 2008

Life is Short: I Miss You, Kung

If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to Heaven and bring you home again.
~Author Unknown~

Speaking of how short this life is... It has been 1,422 days since this person left me. Yes, the after-life claimed him back in 2005 after a brave battle with stomach cancer for mere 6 months since the lethal disease was discovered nesting in his old and fragile body. You have no idea how much I miss him! After thousands of days without his physical presence, I still think about him.

Kung, I miss you!
This is my late Grandpa. His name was Wong Sioek Tjung. Was 84 years old when he left us. Was a Hakka descent. Was a teacher once upon a time. Was a super good Chinese cook. Was my life mentor. Loved his family and friends. Loved books. Moreover, very much loved life.

84 years seemed not a short life at all, don't you think? But when you grew up with a particular person around you, you were used to his presence and now when he is just not here anymore - It's just so weird. You started thinking how come you only had only spent such a short time with this person. Then, you'd realize how short life can be. However, when you had good memories with him, you can't be grateful enough for having a chance to be part of his life and vice versa!

This was the person who had the same intellectual interests as me. No one could level his place thus far. We both loved reading and Chinese philosophies. I miss him dearly. I miss his voice, I miss the way he called my name, I miss his hair gel smells, I miss his greetings when he picked up my phone calls, I miss his laughter, I miss his cooking, I miss walking beside him, I just miss every bit of him.

When I took this picture on his last Christmas on 2005, I used his camera. He gave me this Samsung digital camera, a reward he received from a local Indonesian bank, Bank Niaga. That time digital camera was so novel. I felt so privileged when he passed that camera to me instead of his other grandchildren. See his pose? I thought he was waving saying hello! It's simply because he was always such a happy grandpa. After his departure, when I showed this picture to a friend... She mentioned to me how sad this picture says... My grandpa was like waving to all of us, saying goodbye. Then I realized, it was indeed his way of saying "Farewell, my darlings!". It was not "Hello".


  1. sorry to hear about that.. stay strong ya.. oh yeah, the wave is like a "bye" for me.

  2. Hello, Ken! Thanks for the kind words. It's almost 7 years (already) after his passing in early 2005 and I am still emotional when I see his old photos or when I think about him, once every blue moon. God be with him.

  3. my granma died a few months back and i was at her funeral. let me just say one thing, watching her body disintegrate and resolve to ashes is not something for the weak heart. I could hear her bones crackling and her skull turning ash grey

  4. Hi Brocade Blue,

    I am sorry to hear about your Grandma. I understand your feeling - That must have been a horrible experience for the whole family. Anyway, thanks for reading my blog. :)


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