This I Believe

 

Usually, the passing of a loved one is seen only as a tragic occasion; however, I believe for my family, my great grandpa’s death three years ago was an event of great importance that brought us closer together physically and metaphorically. Ever since I was born, I felt disconnected from all of my extended family, since we all lived in various parts of the globe: Claremont, Atlanta, Taiwan, Xi’an, Shanghai and other obscure villages throughout China. But after my great grandpa, the oldest member of the family, suffered a fall, things started to go downhill, and we all flew in to give him support and keep him company. Every member of the family contributed however they could. The wealthy and influential people in the family spent large amounts of money to buy rare medication for him, and the others, including me, spent lots of time to be with him and to cook some of his favorite dishes. It was then that I realized the true meaning of family love, as well as the values that all Chinese families live by, like filial obedience, respect, care, and devotion to each other. Not only were we there for my great grandpa in the summer of 2013, we also needed each other’s support through these difficult times.

Our family, like most others, had many ongoing feuds between members prior to this instance. For example, certain members of the family would take advantage of others, especially in financial cases, and sparks flew every time they touched the topic. However, when my great grandpa’s body functions started deteriorating, we were all able to put aside previous family arguments to embrace each other. During that summer, all our feuds seemed insignificant and irrelevant, so we forgot about them and cherished the family we had. Great grandpa was a great man and everyone in the family loved him, wished for his health to improve, and didn’t want to spend our last moments with him biting each other’s heads off. As my great grandpa slowly slipped away from us, I was torn between sorrow and gratefulness. As I looked around at all the people in the room that I had grown so close to, I couldn’t imagine going through this ordeal alone. My great grandpa smiled during his last moments, and I think he was ready to face his death with the entire family around, and was glad that our family’s bonds were strengthened through this affair. Losing my great grandpa made me cherish my loved ones that much more, and even now, we keep in touch as often as possible, whether it’s through a phone call, Skype, or a visit. As strong as these bonds are, they can and will always need to be reinforced by events such as this. I believe that death, however tragic, will always be there to strengthen the love of the living.