#2022-0114
On the way to her mother's house, Jean and I were in our car, which I was driving so fast on the freeway.
"Time does fly!" I said. "When did Papa leave us? Do you remember?"
"You mean my dad?" she replied seriously, "He died in the same year when Little Bee (our first grandchild) was still in his mother's womb, not yet born! . . . It was in January 2010; but by the Lunar calendar, it was the 12th month of the Year of the Ox (ca. 2009)."
"So it's been twelve years!"
"Almost... oh yes, exactly twelve years, according to the lunar calendar."
"Mama is luckier than Papa." I said. "She sees Anzhen (their youngest child) so successful these years -- long after Papa passed away."
"But Mom has experienced much more 'suffering' than Dad, hasn't she?" Jean told me that the longer one lives, the more he or she has to be concerned with. In her words, "shorter life, less worries." The word worries meant almost the same as burden, or responsibility, in the context of our conversation.
"If I can't be healthy," she added, "I don't want to live to be very old."
"Anyway, one cannot decide how many days to live on the earth." I concluded, "The length of our life on earth should be settled by God our Lord. What we need to do is live as well as possible!" I emphasized the word well in the phrase "as well as possible." I tried to speak calmly, as though I were a great teacher; however, I was not very sure about what the word well should be defined.
Well, a few weeks earlier, my mother-in-law reminded us of the Memorial Day of our Papa. Indeed, we have all missed Papa very much. And after returning to Dajia, where Mama lives, Jean and I celebrated this special day (which is called Jìrì in Mandarin) together with Mama and with some of her other children (and grandchildren).
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Note: The first two pictures below were taken in 2010 (See 大安的海邊); the third one, in 2001 (copied from 象鼻山：照片共４組). And the last two are "recent photos" taken last September (See A Special Joint Birthday Party).
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相關文章 (See also)：
1) 大安的海邊 (2010)
2) 午後陽光 (2010)
以上照片 分別拍攝於
2010年11月 (取自 大安的海邊) 和
2001年 (取自 象鼻山：照片共４組)
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以下照片 拍攝於2021年9月
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