The word death never occurred to me when I was a little girl. I used to think every human being would live until they grew old with wrinkly skin and lots of gray/white hair. Then one day everything changed.
On August 9th, 2004, my life took a big turn. It was a very nice day in the summer and I remember I was just hanging out at home. Usually everyday my Auntie Hi would come over but for some reason she never showed up that morning. Around noon, she called and told us she wasn’t coming because she didn’t feel good. We assumed she’d be ok if she got some rest but that was just our assumption. The thing with assumptions is, there’s always a chance you’re going to be wrong.
It was around 7pm when I was relaxing in the room, watching TV. Within five to ten minutes; possibly around 7:10ish, the phone rang.
“Hello,” I answered.
“Is your mom home?” my uncle asked in a panicked tone.
“Yes she is. Hold on,” I answered, “MOM!!! Uncle is on the phone. He wants to talk to you.”
“Hello,” my mom replied and within a few seconds my mom froze, “WHAT??? What the hell are you saying? What happened?” Before you know it he hung up on her.
“What happened?” I asked. She slowly looked up at me, my brother, and my Auntie Ngan and said, “Auntie Hi… she’s gone. Your uncle called and said she passed away. “
“NO!! That’s a lie! She’s still young. That’s not possible,” I said bursting into tears, “you’re lying!”
“Calm down,” Auntie Ngan said hugging me, “What happened? What else did he tell you?”
“I-I-I don’t know. He hung up on me,” her voice started to shake, “should I send someone to check since we don’t have a car?”
“Yeah. Call Hung and tell him to drive over there to let us know what’s going on since your brother-in-law is being an ass.”
Everyone waited patiently while my mom called her other brother.
“Hello? Hung? Hey go over to Chen’s house and check on Hi to see if she‘s ok. We got a call from Chen saying she’s dead. He didn’t say what happened; he basically hung up after yelling ‘she’s dead‘. I don’t know if it’s true or if it’s some kind of joke. We’re all worried so just go over there and check, please,” she said in tears.
Hours passed by and Uncle Hung and my grandma came home. They slowly looked up and from the look in their eyes, it was no lie.
“….She’s dead,” my grandma said.
I bursted into tears. All of our family members sat together that night in the living room. Everyone in our family arrived that night to support and comfort each other. Aunts, uncles and cousins were all there in tears; one hugging another, wiping their tears off their faces. We all sat together with our heads down, just talking about how wonderful she was and how they couldn’t believe she would be the first to pass away. I cried the most that night in my mom’s arms. My grandma seemed very bummed out and sad; she never would’ve thought her daughter would leave before she did.
“I’m sorry for what happened. Don’t be so hard on yourself. At least she left peacefully,” one of my aunts said trying to comfort my grandma.
The tears never stopped. It was past midnight and everyone decided to go home and get some rest. Everyone gave my grandma a hug and said, “We’ll all get through this together. Right now it’s late and you should get some rest, alright? Good night.” One by one they grabbed their belongings and headed for the door.
“Hey.. Don’t cry any more ok. Everything will be alright. I promise,” one of my uncles told me as he gave me a hug before he headed with the rest.
When everyone left, the room was empty. It was only my grandma, my parents, Uncle Hung, Auntie Ngan and me left in the living room. We stayed up really late that night and we only slept for a few hours including me. It was a day that can’t be forgotten.
My auntie was only 44 years old. We’re not sure how she passed away but I know she’s in a happier place. This whole tragedy changed my understanding of death. The truth was what we have today can be gone tomorrow. Death just happens. There’s not a certain age where you leave your loved ones. It’s just unpredictable.
She left peacefully on August 9th, 2004 and she will always be remembered
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