Cowardly Lion

While stepping out of the gym, I found it is raining.The heavy rain refreshed the air. Now it smells fresh and cool. But I remembered the clothes hung on the garment rack in the balcony might get wet. It really irritated me. I kept my life simple to move forward with papers for the doctorate degree and the job. But there are always bad surprises waiting. I've cancelled any trip in this year. I thought I could go to visit New York and watch the opera in Broadway in October. Now all are put off.

 

The private study room in the library is my sancturary.

 

 My former advisor asked me to finish a paper. I am eager to finish my own job paper in a limited time. I told him that, but he urged me to fulfill his request. He has resources and strong networking, so I hardly refused him. I surrendered to his power. I dropped a course and cancelled a plan for taking an English course off-campus. I always want to be strong physically and mentally, like a bear or a lion. Now I found in front of personal interests, I am really a lion, cowardly lion.

Yesterday I went to a funeral ceremony for myself and was on behalf of some of Dr. Chu’s students not in the US. This was the first time I attended a ceremony like this. The first part of the ceremony, celebration of life was in a church. As its name suggests, people don’t cry for the deceased only, they also can smile for the life the deceased had experienced. To them, death is not the end of life, but the beginning of forever peace. Quite positive. I hope a funeral in my country can focus on remembering the deceased one’s past instead of reminding his family or friends that he is no more.

 

Pine Forest Memorial Garden

 

After lunch, we went to a memorial garden in the North Raleigh to complete the second part of the ceremony: entombment. Time is tough to the family, especially Dr. Chu. He grasped the urn of his mother and cried loudly. The ceremony takes less than 30 minutes. Every guest offered a flower on the tomb and left the rest to his family. I hope it is well with their souls.

An artificial pond.