My dear friend, life took you away from us too soon. Words alone cannot express
the personal sorrow we feel. I will always remember you and the fun time we
spent together. I remember you looked so beautiful and cheerful at our wedding
back in 2003. We are thankful for having you, Cong, your parents, along with other
dear friends at our wedding to share our joy. The warm feelings always stay with
us. We also remember you and Cong looked so happy and sweet together at the
dinner upon your graduation from UCSB.
I remember your warm hospitality. Back in 1999, I was working and living
in Bay Area. I came back from a trip to China, I forgot my key. I stayed
at your place. You prepared a very nice delicious dinner with a beautiful
flower bouquet on the table. I slept in your living room from about 9:00pm
to the next day afternoon around 3:00pm, when your soft voice woke me
up: Traci... wake up... it's about 3:00pm, the property management office
will be closing soon... Due to time differences, I didn't get much good
sleep while I was in China. That night's sweet sleep at your place was
the longest one I had ever enjoyed.
I also remember back in 2000-2001, when you were doing your Master's Degree
in Computer Science in UCSB, I was working for HP in downtown Santa Barbara.
We both were quite busy, but we managed to get together for dinners a couple
of times. We enjoyed nice food and we enjoyed nice conversations and laughs.
We talked about life in UCSB. Remember we were talking about a male
student sending roses to a professor thing? The male student who sometimes
would burst into loud laughter in the graduate lab had some crush for
a professor; he pretended to be a shy Asian girl when sending the
professor roses on a Valentines day. The Professor was sometimes seen
staring suspiciously at some Asian girls in the graduate lab. The
professor eventually figured out who did that after the student confessed to
his classmates and TAs...we had a quite laugh there...we talked about
classes and professors and people we knew...
You had very sharp eyes. When we were having dinner at the Chinese restaurant
on Los Positas, when the vegetarian chicken dish came, you said hmm, it
looks and smells like real chicken. We tasted it and agreed that it was indeed
a real chicken dish. They had to fix it. It almost spoiled the appetite, but
we all still shared some good laughs there.
You were a very caring friend, and a gentle and fun loving mother to your
little one. During one of our visits to the Bay Area, I called you up to
get together. You insisted to do the driving. You came and picked us up
from our hotel, and we spent the whole day at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in
San Jose. We enjoyed feeding the animals with our kids. We rode on the
seesaw with them, took them on some rides,chased them around, played hide
and seek... When they had some questions you took effort and patience
to explain in the way little ones can understand. I still can hear your
voice, so soft and gentle and loving... On the way back, you reminded me
gently that being 35 weeks pregnant, I needed to be very careful, not to
lift heavy things, not to drive on the way back home, not to get tired out...
On another visit when my second son was about a year old, we met at
Stanford shopping center. Along with my sister, we had a great fun in
the shopping mall. You and Alicia were giggling in taking turns to take
pictures...and we enjoyed each other's company.
You were a strong person in dealing with your most difficult situation. When
you were waiting down the steps by the San Jose Hilton Hotel, you were
wearing sun classes and a green jacket. You looked the same as always,
except for your overly nicely done hair. I commented on it, and you said it
was not your own hair, but it was a wig. My jaw dropped and from there, you
told me how you found out about the cancer. I hugged you, not so much
to comfort you, but my heart just so heavy with the news. But through out
the time when we were together, you were smiling, laughing with the
kids, and chasing them around on the rides. You transcended your sickness
with your cheer, holding up so strongly. I remember, you said sometimes life
is just unfortunate, and that we all have different lives, yet some people
can live with cancer throughout their lives.
Time rolls along, and there is an old saying that some things never
change. This can be the cruelest illusion of all. I remember talking to
you about one of your trips to Disneyland. Time passed, and I was wondering
if you would be interested in going there again. I called your home, and
Cong said you had left us. I tried to continue the conversation with some
other words, but within a moment, I had lost my composure. Quite much time
had passed, and things do change. But one thing that will never change
are our memories, and the good times we had. No earthly transience will
touch this.
In our memory, your voice, your outlook, your smile, all calm
and beautiful...rest in peace my dear friend...