15th November 2006, 12:44 AM
Yesterday when I arrived at the office, I found an email message from a co-worker saying that a man who worked with us some years ago had died.
Blessed repose and eternal memory...
His name was Jerry. Funny thing... Each day I pick a name at random from the phone book and create a new name from it by randomly picking a card from a deck. It is a memory exercise. Well, the name I picked from the phone book yesterday was Jerry. The card was the Nine of Spades, making Jerry Spade. That's a strange coincidence, I suppose.
In any event, Jerry had gotten to know a woman who worked with us. She was from Northern China. Through her, he met another woman, her cousin, whom he got to know over the Internet. Eventually he moved to China and married her. They lived together in China for (I suppose) a year before she could get a visa to come to the USA. While he was in China he worked teaching English. They moved back here in time for their son to be born. That was about 3 years ago.
This weekend he had a heart attack and died.
I went to the visitation at the funeral home. There weren't many people there, just his wife, his cousin-in-law, three from my office, another Chinese woman, two Chinese men and an American woman.
Most of the time we spent there his wife cried. Eventually she had to be carried away, since the arrangements that had been made were for a very brief viewing.
I guess by now he has been cremated. I understand the family is planning to schedule a memorial service sometime soon...
Blessed repose and eternal memory...
His name was Jerry. Funny thing... Each day I pick a name at random from the phone book and create a new name from it by randomly picking a card from a deck. It is a memory exercise. Well, the name I picked from the phone book yesterday was Jerry. The card was the Nine of Spades, making Jerry Spade. That's a strange coincidence, I suppose.
In any event, Jerry had gotten to know a woman who worked with us. She was from Northern China. Through her, he met another woman, her cousin, whom he got to know over the Internet. Eventually he moved to China and married her. They lived together in China for (I suppose) a year before she could get a visa to come to the USA. While he was in China he worked teaching English. They moved back here in time for their son to be born. That was about 3 years ago.
This weekend he had a heart attack and died.
I went to the visitation at the funeral home. There weren't many people there, just his wife, his cousin-in-law, three from my office, another Chinese woman, two Chinese men and an American woman.
Most of the time we spent there his wife cried. Eventually she had to be carried away, since the arrangements that had been made were for a very brief viewing.
I guess by now he has been cremated. I understand the family is planning to schedule a memorial service sometime soon...