Mookoo's Home (木咕子的家): The Phrase "Pass Away" . . .

2023年8月21日星期一

The Phrase "Pass Away" . . .

#2023-0821

The phrase "pass away," especially in the past tense, is something I hate to hear or say, but it seems entirely impossible for us humans to avoid (or get rid of) hearing or saying it in our lifetime.

How sad it would be that someone close to us has passed away! We all grieve the loss of a loved one, no matter how long they had been ill, or how suddenly they left us and passed away!

While I've been asked to keep it private for now, I was deeply saddened to learn that a good friends of mine [name withheld] passed away last Friday (8/18). Being so distressed, I can't help but miss a lot of people and things that I've been through all these past years. -- O Lord God, have mercy on us. May the merciful Father, Son, and Holy Spirit keep and bless all the people I've deeply loved and am missing so much!

Following are some more people and things

that I'll always remember, as recorded

on my blog Mookoo's Home:

= = =

"My father, who passed away several years ago, had worked on the farm all his life -- either on the mountainside or in the rice field. You may call such a person "farmer" but in my case another English word ("peasant") might be better used to describe my dad, as he used to be a poor peasant." (See A Dream 昨夜今晨夢 written in 2021.)

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"A week after the wedding party, I heard Li laoshi and Chen laoshi say that Lao Ye's father "happened to die" on the very same day when Lao Ye's daughter got married. What a shame! It seemed that none of us had been told about it the previous week. I asked Lao Wang if the bad news was true. Lao Wang said, 'That's true. Lao Ye's father caught a bad cold about two months ago, and was sent to one of the best hospitals in Taichung. No one would believe that he would pass away so soon -- on his granddaughter's wedding day!'" (See Lao Ye, posted in 2010, originally written in 2005.)

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"My mother's parents came to Taiwan from the northern part of China. They both passed away already, but I remember that they often talked about the wars, about their difficult time in those days, about how they fled to Taiwan, and so on." (See 講道稿英譯：Don't Look among the Dead for the Living, translated in 2013.)

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"Ah Zung's daddy and mommy used to be pioneers, coming from their faraway hometown to this sparsely populated mountain area. Then they worked mostly as woodcutters; they also opened up some virgin soil. When they passed away, they left their sons a piece of land on the mountainside, which was not formally allotted yet." (See First Part of My Family Tale, posted in 2010, originally written in 2001.)

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"Since my father-in-law passed away in Jan. 26, 2010, we've been missing him very, very much. Especially my mother-in-law! She didn't even want to be away from her house for more than half a day! This week we've just made it possible for her to come with us visiting Sun Moon Lake. We all want to cheer her up, and we'll always be happy to see her happy!" (See 明潭二日（食、宿）：共 2 組, which I posted in 2010.)

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"I'm -- I -- as your youngest daughter's first son, I am so curious about you. I've never seen you, because you died in your early seventies when my mom was just thirteen or so -- I heard mom say 13, but I wonder if it was xusui, the nominal age (based on the East Asian age reckoning), or shisui, the real age. Now my mom, or your youngest daughter, has passed away; and I (as well as my yournger brothers and sisters) miss her so much that I'd also like to recall that she had a father who was dushu ren (讀書人), an educated man -- a scholar and also a "doctor" of Chinese medicine!" (See A Precious Picture: 外公的照片, written & posted in 2021.)

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"After 19 years I found these old photos by chance. I miss everyone in the photos very much. -- Yes, I miss them all, including Bishop John C. T. Chien (簡啟聰主教) and Rev. Payton Craghill (葛培根牧師), who have both passed away!" (See 老照片: 2000 丹佛總議會, posted in 2019.)

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"Oh, Mr. Lu, I thank you for having taught me so much about literature. In fact, I had quite a number of good teachers and lots of good classmates who have always been in my heart: I still remember them now, though some of them (e.g. Mr. Lu) already passed away." (See I Remember You, Mr. T. P. Lu, written in 2016.)

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"The piece of land belonged to my father until he passed away in 2015. Then, according to his will, the ownership of the land was transferred to my mother. (By then, my father had already given some other parts of his land to my brothers and me!) Five years later, my mother passed away in December 2000, and the land legally became the joint inheritance of all my siblings and me." (See The Last Piece of Land written in 2023.)

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相關文章 (See also)：

1) An Enjoyable Potluck-Brunch Party (2012)

2) Photos of a Sunday Gathering (2013)

3) 棕枝主日 (Palm Sunday) (2022)

4) Confirmation and Reception (2022)