How this instructor’s lending the student a helpful ear, to offer her the assistance, to assist this young woman in getting the help she needed, had made, all the, difference in her life, translated…
The curfew of my dorm was from one at midnight to six in the morn, and as soon as the time comes, we get, locked down, and of course, traffic accidents, or things that came up abruptly won’t count. It was past the curfew that night, I was about to call it a night, then my doorbell rang, a female classmate, looking pale, and sounded winded told me, “I’m sorry professor, to have called you up this late, but I am dizzy, and having a headache, I’m completely out of it, I need to get to the E.R.”
As a dorm super, what I’d hoped that I don’t encounter are these, midnight crises. But, this student’s manners was, very well, and I’d immediately started up the S.O.P. of dealing with these sorts of emergencies. “Why do you have a headache, do you know?”, finding the reasons, she’d not covered up, responded, “I’m on medication from the psychiatric department, and I’d had the side effects of headache, dizziness, and this time, it’s my body that feels, completely, limp.” “It’s already this late, do you have someone to go with you?”, and, I’d calculated, that the female officers of the dormitories are already, asleep, that I am the only one she has, to take her to the hospitals. “I’d already asked my classmate to go to the E.R. to sign me up, and there’s a classmate who’s waiting out by the front gates to take me to the hospital.” “Okay, you’d handled that very well”. And, I’d calculated, that because this wasn’t a solitary occurrence, it should be no problem, and I’d not forgotten to commend her on how well she’d, handled herself.
“Would you like me to wait up for you?” Waiting up for someone who’s coming after curfew is no easy task. “It’ll be too late, I’m worried it might impact your sleep, so after the E.R. visit, I shall go sleep at my classmate’s home”, such a courteous, and empathetic young woman, truly rare. “Then, watch for safety on the roads, and, tell me the results of your checks.” As I saw her off, I’d, started filling up the paperwork, and I’d gotten a text from her, “professor, I’m already done seeing the doctor and called my families, and after I’m done with the drips, I shall be staying overnight at my classmate’s”, so that was that, she’s at the hospital, and someone was there for her, and I’d felt better, and went to bed.
At eight in the morn the following, I saw her dressed up, readied to go out, I was surprised, and concerned, “why don’t you take a day off? Where are you going this early?”, “to work, and I’m all right now, I’m sorry for the intrusions last night.” She became very spirited and talkative today. “Aren’t you going to take a day off work?”, and, in the words we’d exchanged, she’d told me that her mother had left home, and now, the household relied solely on her father’s measly wages, and, it was hard enough for him to make the pay to raise up her own younger siblings who are still in school. “I’d taken out the student loans, and made my own allowances through part-time jobs”, although, she’d looked a bit, taken, but, she’d, expressed herself with that sturdiness, that bravery about her.
My heart went to this girl, don’t know why she’s on the medications from the psychiatric department? And she’d, slowly let her guards down, told me, “I was once, sexually harassed.”, then she’d stopped talking, because this was a sensitive, personal matter, I’d, nodded, to show her that I’d understood, “I hope you can heal up soon, so you won’t need to rely on the medications anymore, if ever you need help, or just want to talk, my door is always open.”
Watching her leave, I’d thought of the yearly counseling seminar I’d signed up for, and the lecturers would always sum up at the very end, “the instructors at school can all become, counselors, taking actions in time, visiting with the students, to listen to them tell you what’s going on in their lives, all of these might be able to prevent something tragic that may occur.”
I’m truly glad, that I can, help this, young woman out.
So, this is how lending a helping hand made you realized, the importance of lending someone that needed ear, and, had this dorm supervisor just, brushed this young woman off, she may feel helpless, and, she may become, withdrawn, because, what she’d experienced, wasn’t, easy, getting sexually harassed in her past.
How fast the children grow up, one day, they still need you, and the very next moment, they no longer, needed you, to watch over them anymore! Translated…
Having to go to school out-of-district, to the big-eyed girl who’d lived, quite simply, was a huge leap out of her comfort zone, a passageway into, an alternative, realm; while her first obstacle was, take the bus. For this, she’d asked her classmate to accompany her, and, looking at her animated as she returned, sharing her experiences, I’d thought, she should have, no problems then.
“You will, go with me tomorrow, right?”, the night before the summer sessions, I’d received that, helpless inquiry, which alerted me. The following morn, I’d gone with the big-eyed girl, to the sidewalk with the huge flamegold, and saw a tour bus, parked by, with the LED lights of “XX Student Shuttle”, I’d said hello to the driver, “I shall be driving this route from here on out”, he’d told me.
Then, going to the bus stop, the two of us, mother and daughter, became our, routines.
how we started…photo from online
And one day, my big-eyed girl did NOT go right up the bus, but instead, traded whispers with the driver, I’d questioned it, but didn’t feel proper to inquire her about it then. As she’d returned home, she’d told me what the driver told her, “he’d said, you live so close, and you still have your mom accompany you, you need to, learn to get to the bus stop on your own!”, as those words came, the air, froze, “So, will you, still, accompany to the bus stop?”, I’d fallen, silent.
On this night, the darkness draped over us, my daughter didn’t get home, I’d called her cell, she’d not, picked up, which made the wait for her to come home even, longer; then, “CLACK!”, cut open that heavyset air of night, the sound of key turning, my daughter dropped her backpack, mumbled, “I’d accidentally, fallen asleep on the bus, and rode it to the terminal station by accident, there was only, me………….” “How did you get home then?” “The driver gave me a lift, and he’d told me, ‘young lady, don’t fall asleep again on the bus.’” And, I’d heard the steady voice of the driver, “tell mom, that you will be very safe, there’s nothing she needs to worry about.”
We’d gone from the summer into the winter, I’d thought, that we would, keep on, walking like this, but my big-eyed daughter blocked me from exiting the house with her, looking at her tiny frame, going farther, and farther, and farther, away. “It’s just a few steps out, why are you, worried?”, her words echoed in my mind, seemingly question my faith in her. Don’t I trust the characters of the driver? And, will I give her time, space, to discover who she is, how she is to, become, what and who she wants to, become………….
Then, “Pop”, that thought was, interrupted, I lifted my head, it was the flamegold rain tree’s seed, popping out, the seeds, worked so very hard, to break away out of the shells that once, kept them all, safe, looking back, the shells are still, full but they’d now become, emptied on the inside. I’d come to understand, that the tree used an entire year, to birth out its, own offspring, and as the seeds are matured, they’d, broken out, and away, far off, and yet, the trees can’t just, let go easily. Isn’t this, the way of nature, just like how my big eyed daughter will, eventually need to, shoulder her own life, to learn the lessons she would need, and if she’s ready, what right have I, to hold her, back?
“Don’t worry, she’ll be, safe”, the driver’s words echoed between the trees, and the, skies.
and it’d become…like this, as they gained, more independence from us, the parents! Photo from online
And so, this is, watching your own daughter grow up, and, you feel a bit, sad, because she no longer needed you, to watch over her, to take care of everything for her, she is, learning to grow up strong, to take care of herself, and you should be glad, that you’d, taught her well, it’s just, that you feel, a bit, sad, that she’s, needing you, less and less each and every day, but that’s just how life goes. Children will become, independent of their, parents, and the parents must learn to effectively deal with the sense of, empty nest…
The experiences that made you appreciate the beauties of nature more, which hopefully, will drive you to protect it more! Translated…
It was 2018, I’d, given my virginity of the first long swim in the oceans to, Ludao, it was also the very first time, I went swimming with, a thousand of my, fellow swimmers, to enjoy the beauties of, the, oceans.
For many year, the fellow companion swimmers would ask me to take the long swim in the oceans, and I’d always found an assortment of reasons to turn them down, “Going swimming in Waimu Mountain? Nah, too many, jellyfishes!”, “Swimming in Wushi Harbor? The waves are too huge, I can’t manage!”, “over the seas in Kinmen? But it’s, too, unromantic, how black the sands on the beaches there are”. “In Penghu, the currents are too strong, I don’t know if I can………”
the events at Ludao, photo from online
“Ludao long swim………”, toward this, location of many beautiful things to see, what excuses can I, have? I’d gone with close to a thousand of ocean loving fellow swimmers, followed the beautiful female coach to warm up, then, entered into the just right temperature water, gotten rid of the buoy that’s holding me back, swam, toward the, oceans.
This was, a colorful, gathering of friends who loved swimming, there were the colorful swimmers in their swimsuits over the oceans, with the visitors who’d put on the snorkeling gears for show, the parents-children teams as well. Other than those whom I knew around me, and those whom I don’t, there are, the schools of fishes that are, keeping things active, the coral reefs, while the professional divers kept waving at me, to make sure I was, okay.
This was, a gathering of friends in joy, that you wouldn’t want to get too far off into the oceans on your own of, a grand gathering that keeps you locked up in beauty, that you forget how tired your legs and arms are from kicking and paddling, a lesson of nature, that teaches us to cherish it even more, once you’d, experienced it all.
And so, this is a way, to get closer to what we’re, protecting, to see the beauties that the oceans have to give to us, which will in turn, drive us to protect it more, to reduce the pollutions, because we want what we’d encountered in this swim to be here, for as long as it’s able to, last.
On the need of having someone who’s similar to us, whom we can, share things, with, the column by Jimmi Liao, translated by me…
I’m Fickle,
Living Inside a Chameleon,
Waiting for a Chameleon to Visit Me,
the artwork of Jimmi Liao, courtesy of UDN.com
Then, We Can, Play Together,
In that Game of, Change, and Camouflage,
So Blessed with Someone Like Me
This is, on the, longing, of the need to connect to someone who’s, similar to us, someone with whom we can, share our interests, our thoughts with, and we all need someone like that in our lives, so we don’t feel, too alone in this, world!
Love is, thicker than, blood, that is, what this story of how this family was “made” possible, showed…translated…
A lot of couples who longed to become parents, but couldn’t, due to, infertility, and although, they can’t have children who shared their blood, they may well be, having the love of children to them.
My older female cousin and her husband kept longing for children, but, five years after they were wed, no news, they’d worried that they’re, past the period of being fertile enough to carry, went to the hospital to get examined, and started their infertility treatments. They’d tried everything, in vitro, getting their systems healthy enough by traditional Chinese medicine treatment means, asking the goddess to bless them with a child, drinking the herbal remedies, everything, but, there was, no end in sight.
And, no matter how hard they’d tried, things just, didn’t go as they wanted, and, they’d gotten caught up between becoming expectant, losing hope, they’d spun around for decades on end on this, and, what they’d weathered through, only those who’d gone through the same issues can, understand.
becoming a family! Photo from online
On the year my older cousin turned fifty, after discussing the matter with her husband, they were, prepared to become, parents then, decided to adopt. After the grueling procedurals, they welcomed Kai, who’s not related to them by blood, into, the family.
The young life of only six-months old came into their lives, the midlife first-time mother was quite busy, my older cousin quit her job to stay at home with her adopted son, and, she’d now found a brand new focus in her life, and became, more energetic. With a child, everything’s set, with the joys and settledness of being parents, they’d hoped to give the young boy a warm home.
In the adopted family, the most difficult is the matter of telling the adopted children where they came from, the fears, the worries that came with the questions, some families chose to not disclose for the children’s lives, some families, were open about the matter. Time flew, Kai is older, and, my cousin decided that as her son was in high school, is more matured psychologically, to tell him the truth, in case one day, as he’d discovered that he’d been adopted on his own, the shock may hit him, too, hard.
Recalled that day, as my cousin invited her father and my mother to their home to eat, Kai sensed something in the air, he saw how uneasy we all, were, and as my cousin took Kai’s hand in hers, and announced that they have something to tell him, he’d started first, “mom, dad, I know what you were worried about, a year ago, I saw in the household registry by accident, I already knew that I was, adopted, thank you for giving me all your love, I love you guys!”. The worries were gone, instantly, my cousin and her husband cried as they’d hugged Kai, “Thank you for becoming our son!” this was a love, that runs, deeper than, blood.
the thing that this family shared: Love! Photo from online
The experts had suggested, “the children can ask the adults what they wanted to know, then, based off of the child’s individual level of understanding, maturity, then, honestly, hold that conversation, to show the brighter side to adoption”. Adoption should NOT be a tabooed secret, giving the child double the love, that’s, even more, important.
There’s the news of how there are close to eight hundred children waiting for a home in Taiwan, and, adopting the children slowly became a trend here, and it takes patience for the couples who can’t have children to adopt, the process is quite long, it took my cousin and her family, a total of TWO whole years, to formally, registered Kai into their family, my cousin laughed and told me, “it’s longer than the ten months of, pregnancy!”
So, this is, one alternative way that you can have children, by adoption, and, this is quite important, because by adopting the children, you are not just relating to them in parent and children form, but also, in love, and, there are so many children who are in need of better homes in the world, and if you can’t have children, then, you might consider adopting, after all, love will always be thicker than, blood!
Are these signs for concern? Not really, because, in your interpretations, your son’s being overly active, it’s just him, being, him! Translated…
The ball that I’d missed, seemed to have eyes, just, brushed too close to my, ears, your jaw dropped, and, as you’d come to, you’d, started bouncing up and down, like that clown, dancing the moves of the most trendy dance at the times.
what the child enjoys doing…physical activities outdoor! Photo from online
You were just born, and started, exerting signs of your, overactivity. When you were wrapped up tight in the holding cloth, you’d looked quite, “constipated”, but, once we’d, unrolled you, you’d started, waving your arms, kicking your legs, started, dancing like happy crazy, grandma stated, “he’s an, active one!” Certainly, grandma was, correct, especially after you’d learned to flip over, to crawl, you’d, not spared a single moments, you were, really, agile too, and, when I was spacing out, you’d, flipped to the other side, and, it’d confused, me as to which direction you’d, gone; I just saw you crawled into the living room, and, in a split second, you were, gone, and I’d not found you, until, I’d, followed the tracks to the, bedroom.
Then, you could walk, at home, in the park, on the playgrounds, you’d, stumbled around, checked your, territories, and, what came into my ears during that period were young baby talks, and the giggling, that came into my mind, time and time again, and brainwashed, me, this was, the most melodic song to my, ears.
also, this too! Photo from online
Then, you’d, caught up with what those young boys loved, speed, straddled on that bicycle, without the training wheels, the snake boards too; but, the heated air started, electrocuting you down, you’d, sought out the speed, but without any concerns for your, safety, gotten all those, bruises, bumps, and more, and I can only, ache for you in my heart, as I’d, patched your injuries, up……there’s nothing I can do, as you’d become, this, overactive, little, man!
And so, this is what, raising a boy is like, those boys, they’re going to, bounce up and down, active in their lives, because that, is what little boys do, and, your young son showed the tendencies of his hyperactivity when he was only, infantile, hated lying on his back, always moving around, for you to, catch up, to find him…
The realizations of one’s own, empty nest stage of life, coming, on…translated…
Since my son became an adult, my means of being a single parent became my way of, single living. The twenty-four-hours-a-day shifted the gears to focusing back to the self, I now have, all the time given to me, too much time, that I don’t know what to do, with.
That day on the bus alone, I caught a glimpse of a young couple who are having their child soon, strolling together, looking into the display windows, it’d suddenly brought me back to right after I gave birth, seemed that on an ordinary afternoon, I’d, gone strolling and the nostalgia of before my son was born, how I’d, strolled without any set destination, it made me dropped that one and only, postpartum depressive, tear, thinking of how different I am now, adapting to my life alone, I can’t help but laugh at my younger self.
Turned out, back then I’d not realized how quickly time will, fly, that in a blink of an eye, that infant child became, a big boy, and I returned back to that strolling alone, wandering, aimlessly, looking in the display windows, without a worry or a care, daily routines.
It’s just, that, before my smile settled in, I’d, found, that nothing was ever the same, now or, then, that there’s that sense of firmness of the palms I’d, naturally, clung on, to. That sense of, security I’d, not remembered, since then.
Many years later on the bus, I’d, suddenly recalled the heat of those hands that’s, gone away from me, I know that I wouldn’t call it nostalgia, but, eventually, I’d come to realize, that the single tear I’d shed back then, wasn’t at all, foolish, turned out, what I thought was ordinary, everyday, is, “a final, farewell”, time flew right by.
Up to this point, I’d felt, at ease, knowing, that what I am to do, is to cherish every moment in the now. Although, I’m still not used to, being let go of by my son, not used to wandering off on my own, not used to eating my three meals alone……….but actually, this way of life, will also, become, an irreplaceable, unduplicated, moment in, time too.
I’d started, smiling, again, decided to, use my heart, to enjoy this time that belonged solely to, me, without, a single worry or, a, care.
So, this is you, transitioning into, your, empty nest, because your son is grown, and no longer needed you to chase after him, to pick up after him, and, you need to find something else to center your attention on, shifting the focus of being a parent, back to, being, your own, self!
The trends, as affordable housing, living on their own became, next to, impossible, as the prices, the costs of everything still gets, higher by the day, off of the Front Page Sections, translated…
The American and European’s “Boomerang Generation”, Returning Home to Live with Their, Parents
The adult children living in with the parents, or never, worked outside, relying on their parents for economic supports, this trend isn’t only found in Japan. There’s also, the “generational boomerang” syndromes visible in the western world too, on how the originally left home younger generations, due to the economic difficulties, high unemployment rates, and high cost of housing, etc., etc., etc., to save the money, moving back in, with their, parents.
Recently, more and more of the baby boomer generations (from 1946 to 1964) had moved back in with their own, parents, showing that the “boomerang generation” isn’t limited, only, to the younger generation.
like this…photo from online
The Guardian reports that, the outbreaks of MERS-CoV caused more and more of the baby boomer generation to move back home, to live with their aging, parents. There are many reasons, the more positive involved, that the grown children needed to ensure that their parents are well-cared for; the more negative revolved around how the children are having financial difficulties, and their marriages being, broken.
The fifty-six year-old school instructor, Emma Egan, after her divorce, she’d moved back in with her parents, she told, that during the outbreaks, she and her parents spent a ton of quality time together, and she’s still, living with them, simply because she loved their, company.
The sixty-one-year-old Jackson, who is a creative director, after he became unemployed and his children leaving the nest, moved back in to his own parents’ home with his wife. He told, “past age sixty, it became hard for me to find a new job, we believed that our best option being selling our home, and no longer paying the mortgages, and move into the basement of my parents’, home.”
Jackson stated, “now I don’t have the pressures of mortgage, I get to put everything into finding a new job, the new job I’d found allowed us to purchase our own home, and it is only ten-minute in walking distance to my mother’s home, who’d just lost my father, not too long, ago.”
The financial trouble was the key factor of the citizens’ moving back in with the parents. The ONS pointed out, that in 2021, there are, over 355,000 British citizens over fifty-five years of age who became unemployed. With the problems of inflation, cost of energy on the hike, moving back in with the parents can reduce a lot of pressures of life, and helps the parents to pay for the costs of the families’ general living expenses.
adult children, living at home, being waited and served by the, parents…photo from online
The fifty-four year-old tech consultant, Lambert, due to debts and divorce, moved back in with her mother. This was a fitting arrangement for both, Lambert told, “my mom liked this arrangement, because my children comes to visit, she loved seeing them more often. But I would want my own personal space, living at home now lets me pay up my debts, I plan to move out of my mother’s a year from now.”
Not only in England, there are many middle generations who’d posted online from the U.S., discussing how it was for them, to move back in with their parents’ after they became unemployed, even, there is someone who claimed that s/he is forty-five years old, never worked a day, and still living at home with her/his, parents.
And so, the downturn in economy is, breeding out these, brand new group of, trending, leeches, those who help around their parents’ homes, picking up the slacks, helping to care for their aging parents are, not a problem in this case, but those who refused to find work, who sucked their parents’ dry, having their mothers, cook their breakfasts, serving the foods to them by the meals, while they just, glued in on the screen, that is, NOT, okay at A-L-L!
The attitude of this young boy on study, is truly, amazing, and surely, he will, carry these good values he’d been socialized with, into his, adulthood, years too! Translated…
I’d gone into the schools for my early morning before sunrise stroll, starting my day off. It was 6:30, a child of the lower grades entered into school, sat on the steps, pulled out the writing assignment books from his backpack, started practicing writing the characters; as he’d come across a character he couldn’t read, he’d looked up the words from his Chinese text, he was sitting, squatting as he read, or got down on his belly side to write, his focus drew me to him, I can’t take my eyes off of him, but, I’d not, interrupted his, self-learning sessions either.
Before I went home, I’d gone up to him and inquired, “why are you here so early? Do you not have a desk to read on at home? Working on your assignment from yesterday?” “I’d done my assignment from yesterday already, my parents have a breakfast truck nearby, I thought I can come to school early, and finish today’s, assignment earlier.” I’d silently thought to myself: child you not only owned just, that one full house of gold in reading.
why we all need to get an early start on our, days, because the best time of work is in the mornings! Illustration from online
There are the various tasks we are all in need of completing in our separate lives, and we can, choose the attitudes to which we face these; and yet, the temptations of video games, internet, chasing the soaps are oftentimes, too enticing, “life should be wasted on something beautiful”, and reasons of the, likes, it a good excuse for our own, laziness, but toward what’s really important, what we should really work hard towards, we’d often, rushed through them, and brushed them all aside, with that scent of, carelessness.
The young boy’s attitude toward life offered me the important lesson of “the best time of day is in the mornings”, and he’d moved me, even though, he’s, on his belly, moving slow onward, but, in putting the words of being humbled by one’s own circumstances, he’d shown that strong force of life, and his, persistence as well as, his, stamina too.
So, it’s this young man’s attitude that’s impressed this writer, because of his means of taking advantage of time, unlike how a lot of us would take time for granted, and waste it all away, this young lad didn’t, he’d, taken the time before his school started, to study, to review over what he’d learned from before, not wasting a minute, away.
The measures of this man, how he’d, given all he could in life, and left behind, a wonderful, legacy after his, death…translated…
Zhong-Ji is Very Passionate and Puts Everything He Has into Work, the Tiananmen Incident in Beijing, in the Rain of Bullets, He’d Interviewed the Witnesses, Victims, & Those Who Participated, Had it Not Been the Manager of the Station, Lee Ordering Everybody to Retreat, He’d Thought about, Staying…………
No Matter How Difficult the Check-Ups, He’d Agreed to Them, in an, Instant
It’d been said, that he’d, passed, so, abruptly.
The medical staff members kept trying to pinpoint the source of his infections, but, he was in a coma due to the medications they’d administered to him, he couldn’t say a word, but, the machines showed his vitals were dropping, the blood pressures dropped sharply, then, the heart slowed, slowed…………then, stopped. He’d, used his behaviors, to prove his statements of death before he’d died: how I will go, is leaving NO regrets behind, free and, clear.
He was, the noted good friend in the news media industry, in the business realms, the not-for-profit organizations, everybody who knew him deemed him a good friend who’s, understanding, and kind. He was, Zhong-Ji Liu.
In the ten months he’d battled it out with his illness, he was, the best, most compliant sort of wonderful patient that any doctor and nurse could, ever, ask for, no matter how awful the checks, how painful the treatment measures, he’d, agreed. Like there wasn’t an inkling of emotional response; but he’d disclosed his fears, worries, and helplessness to us in private, it’s just, that he’d, made up his mind, to fight the cancer cells in his, blood.
April 22nd, 2022, Zhong-Ji’s birthday party was held at a certain restaurant, the owner of the restaurant was an old acquaintance of his; Zhong-Ji told me quietly, that the foods were amazing, the prices, good, but, the owner was having a difficult time, keeping the restaurant going. That evening, it was so rare, that his son, Jen-Ning was there too, and, in an instant, the wine glasses were emptied in both their, hands, Zhong-Ji talked on, still quite the, drinker. A few days later came, the news of his blood producing cells stopped working, meaning, he was diagnosed with, leukemia.
He’d immediately gone with the treatment plans the Veteran’s Memorial oncologists had assigned him to, scheduled a bone marrow transplant. Just got out of the hospital on May 14th, by the 17th, he’d gone with his wife, Hsu, became a Buddhist under the Fagu Mountain master. Close to twenty years ago, his own father passed away, he witnessed how the master of Fagu Mountain and all the other Buddhist followers recited the passages of the dead for his own father, he was moved; after that, he’d gone to all the activities of the Buddhist Foundation, no questions asked. It’s just, that under the affinities, he’d never, become, “baptized” as a Buddhist, I’d wondered about that a bit, but, it wasn’t my place to ask. Until the cancer came at him, he’d, told me, that he worried he wasn’t, good enough, that he’d lacked the qualities to become, a Buddhist follower, that’s why he’d, put it off too long. I’d laughed at him in the phone calls, that he’d, worried to much, that becoming a Buddhist was like registering for an account online, to prove oneself as a Buddhist, with only the desires of finding a place to belong, along with seeking out the wisdoms of mercy, and kindness, the path to learning these values, nothing more. So, Zhong-Ji stopped hesitating, told me, that he would, become a follower of, Buddhism!
Zhong-Ji is my younger school mate at World Journalism University, we’d gotten involved in the choir, but not together, I was the leader of the tenth annual choir group, and he, the leader of the, fourteenth, and because we became schoolmates, we’d become, connected, and even if we are separated by the years, we naturally, couldn’t, break the bond, for decades, we’d sung, gathered for meals, and it’d, never stopped.
He’d once helped me a great deal at work, in the T.V. programming, he’d only worked for a short six months, and it was the most leisure of time that’d been, offered to me, working with him, all the nitty gritty of the settings of the shows, the shows themselves, he’d, taken it all on his, shoulders. At the moment that he’d died, he was still, a member of the chairs of the foundation.
Witnessed Everything that’s Bad in the World, the Trials of the People, Had Been Hit by a Serious Illness
Zhong-Ji was more than devoted to his work, passionate too, the interview he’d done of the Tienanmen Incident in Beijing, he’d interviewed the people under the fires, had it not been the station manager Lee, who’d, ordered the crew to immediately return, he would’ve, stayed there. On his way back from Beijing, to Narita, Tokyo, back to Taiwan, I’d gone to pick him up; on the evening, I’d take him to the beer house in Tokyo, he’d asked me to, stay for the night at the hotel, and, told the thrilling moments he’d encountered in Beijing to me in one breath.
There’s that tight ruler that Zhong-Ji measured himself by inside of him, especially on the means of interpersonal relations; he tight-lipped, only told of what he’d observed, nothing that will put a damper on someone else’s, reputations. Once after he’d quit the job of a television station manager, as he’d sorted through his desk, I’d gone with him and his wife to dine, as Zhong-Ji went to the restrooms, Huei-Jen, his wife smiled and told me, that this man she had is really, easygoing, he’d made such a high pay per month, and yet, it was, so easy, for him to, let go of that, without a, second, thought. That evening, Zhong-Ji did not mention anything from work, only comfortably, drank and ate, but, I’d observed, that there was, something, going on, in his mind, that’s, not spoken, aloud.
illustration from UDN.com
During his time at Fuxing Airline, he’d gotten involved in two crashes of the airlines, toward these sorts of bad predicament, most would dodge all they could, but, the owner of the airline asked him how he was to answer the massive media inquiries, Zhong-Ji told him that he will tell the press about the most difficult section, the payments that will be made to the families who’d lost their loved ones in the crash. In the podcast, “Fearing Death, Wanting to Live Longer”, I’d asked Zhong-Ji why was he willing to, get himself, in that, huge, mess? He’d told, that he was once a member of the media press, that it was not possible, to take himself out of something this major; at the same time, he’d not feel proper, to just act as a bystander, as the company he worked for, goes into the line of, fire, wanted to use empathy to face the families, who must feel the panic, the losses of their, loved, ones.
He’d continued, that a lot of the families are already in deep distress, and started cussing him out, to cussing his own families out too, but, Zhong-Ji did NOT act upset one bit, he’d empathized, that had it be his own loved ones who’d died in the crash, could he use an even worse means to cuss out the airline too? And so, he’d flown to China, to help sort out the means of compensation of a mother-daughter pair, the families ordered him to get down on his knees, and had the Taiwanese-Chinese relations agent get down on their knees with him, he’d told me, had he not kneeled, how could the families feel okay, to sit down with him, in a calmer manner, to discuss the compensations with him? By the same, in the mortuary, seeing how the undertaker had, worked their hardest, to patch up the corpse, how could he not kneeled beside the families? That was, such, a huge HIT of sorrows, and loss for them!
A survived young man, was paralyzed from the waist down, it took him a total of five whole times, to get him to see him, and, he was made to stand outside under the scorching sun for over an hour, and, the survivor of the crash mentioned the Buddhist master, Shen-Yen, said that it was because of the words of the master, that’s helped healed him, Zhong-Ji immediately used his cell phone, to find the video of a recording of the Buddhist master, and the man’s attitude changed suddenly. Following that, he’d not only been “graced” by the air-conditioning, the man also, served him some ice tea too, and, at that eighth time, the man finally signed the papers, to get the payments of the damages. What touched Zhong-Ji the most was, the survivor, before he left, asked, “can we become friends?”
the man, apologizing at a press conference for the crash to the public, photo from online
Zhong-Ji, after he witnessed the ups and downs of life, life and death, was hit hard, with his own, cancer. He’d told me peacefully, that based off of the prognosis, he had no more than six years at best, but, in only a year and a half, after he was, injured inside and out, he’d finally, turned in his, timesheet in life, and ran towards the embraces of, Buddha. The moment I’d heard the news of his passing, there was, a scene that’s, frozen, before my eyes,, what his wife, Huei-Jen had, sent to me—his son, Jen-Ning readying to go to the hospital to donate his own marrows to try to save his, father, when Zhong-Ji hugged onto his son, who’s, a head taller than he was tight, with his face, distorted, crying so hard.
And so, this is what this man left behind after he’d died, with his means of treating others kind and gently, and, his actions AND his words, are exactly identical, which was truly rare, especially in today’s, world.
This man had the amazing work ethics, the right way of treating others, and, that’s something, that we can all, learn from!
Mirroring the World 
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