A New Year of Happiness, page 2 (February 2007 Number 10)
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Uncle George was one that some may view as eccentric. He spoke his mind, not seeming to care much what others thought about him, but he loved being around people. He lived life his way, through his values. One of those values was a strong loyalty for family. After his mother died, he chose to live with his widower uncle 18 years his senior, living together and helping take care of him for 12 years until Uncle Samuel died in 2003.
The legend of George’s birth turned out to be just that—a legend. As Ellen, Grace & I combed through George’s belongings we came across the photo of his father’s gravesite. The date of death on his tombstone was clearly marked in Chinese: May 16, 1924. Sie-on died several weeks after George’s birth, but no matter what the time span, his father’s short life and inability to know his son will always remain a tragedy. Yet I realized how much George took after his dad. Like his father, George was determined to live out his last few weeks the way he wanted it to be. That’s my uncle. He would have it no other way. * * * * * |
George Wen |
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George Wen was Vincent's uncle. George's mother, Phin-chin Wen, and Vince's maternal grandfather, Paul Yin-Hee Phang, were siblings. Click here to
read the biography of George as it was written for his funeral, and
to see more photos.
Tribute to Uncle George
The next three years were probably difficult for George, being the first time he spent significant time living alone. He moved to a retirement community in Loma Linda, but managed to maintain a love for life and fondness for people. Even after moving away from California, Grace and I had opportunities to visit Loma Linda and would stop by Uncle George’s apartment to visit. We last saw each other in September 2006. To us, he looked great. However, by the time Christmas came around, it was clear there was a problem. Admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain, he was eventually found to have late stage pancreatic cancer. Sensing the end was near, he moved to a hospice in Orange County to live out what remaining time he had.
His doctors gave him four months to live. Grace and I made quick arrangements to visit him. That should be plenty of time to see him and to say our final farewell. We would be staying with Aunty Ellen, who grew up with Uncle George in Bangkok, and now lived only minutes away from the hospice. We didn’t make it in time. George died about a half hour before our plane touched down at LAX. He had gone downhill—real fast. Instead of four months, he lasted only two weeks after moving into hospice. We wondered why George couldn’t hold on—we told him by phone we were coming and selfishly asked him to hold on. After hearing this my uncle Robert remarked, “I think he knew that the end was near, and he probably asked himself, why wait? He was in great pain, he lived life the way he wanted, and he didn't wish to be a burden. This is the way he would have wanted to go.”
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eorge
Wen was the only person I knew who had a legend associated with his
birth. Living with his expectant wife on the Southeast Asian island
of Borneo, his father, Sie-on, a young minister in his 20’s was
already near death from advanced tuberculosis and not expected to
live to see his son’s birth. The story goes that Sie-on made an
heroic effort to stay alive long enough to see his son. On April 28,
moments after George came out of the womb, Sie-on heard the cries of
his child, realized his goal, and died.
