loss - 张国兴

"ring...ring..., ring...ring..." the house phone rang.
"hello," my grandma picked the phone.
"ah ngi sim ah, ah sam suk mao lo!" replied the caller
"hah? ah sam suk ko sin? ki xi xi hi? zo kai hiao xi hi?" she asked loudly
"gi tet lok hang kui..."
for any of you guys who were wondering what the heck i was talking about, it was a relative conversing in hakka calling from simpang empat(my grandpa's birthplace) informing my grandma about the death of my grandpa's brother. my grandma started shouting into the phone to ask for more details. according to them, he died after falling into the drain. emotions running high, tensions rise. although i wasn't close to the deceased, but i visited his house every chinese new year. somehow it's someone i have encountered every single year for 18 years. whether or not i am close to him, somewhere in the heart, i still felt the loss of a relative. visiting him every year, i was always welcomed with smiles. he's rather quiet since he's partially deft due to old age. nevertheless, i always felt comfortable during visits to his house. it's a rather sad event. he had heart complications. he suffered the same fate as my grandpa. my grandpa died 20 years ago after suffering a sudden heart attack in the paddy field. he fell in the sawah padi. his brother...in the longkang outside his house. to think about it, life is so unpredictable. our lives are practically hanging on a precarious line. we never know when it's time's up for us...人的生命是如此的脆弱
at his death, he's 77+3

No words can express
The dearly missed
presence of a departed one
Memories live on,
In a photograph, a poem
A loving memory,
a joyful moment
And we treasure them
and hold them close
to our hearts.