Coincidences?
Some coincidences are too strange to be called coincidental….
PHONE CALL
On Thursday, May 12th, the day before I left HK for Chicago, I called my Dad to tell him I was coming to see him soon. That was a Wednesday evening in Chicago… he told me he’d be home in two days and that he’d call me then. But, he was groggy from the morphine, so I could barely discern what he was saying at the time. I could only understand him saying that he’d call me later.
It was only after my father’s death that I found out what had actually happened on the other end of the phone in Chicago. Tang and Aunt Sau Fong were at my father’s bedside in the hospital. About two minutes before my Dad’s phone rang, he was lying in bed, he looked forward, smiled, and said my Chinese name, “Wai Wai” … then, minutes later, the phone rang, and it was me calling. It was like he knew I was about to call.
We still don’t know if he meant “going home” to be going home to my sister’s place in Champaign, or if he meant that he was really going to leave us in two days. Apparently, by that time, my Aunt says, Dad was already saying that he was going to die very soon… but she kept telling him to hang on until I arrived from Hong Kong.
CHINESE NUMEROLOGY
Other coincidences… You know the Chinese fascination with numerology, and the number “3” (pronounced “sam” in Cantonese) as a lucky homonym for “life” or “living”… well, Dad was born on the 30th of January 1942. He died on the 13th of May. His wake was on the 13th of April on the Chinese calendar (20th May on the Western calendar). His remains were buried on a Wednesday (3rd day of the week) with a service commencing at 3pm.
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DIVINE INTERVENTION--OR DAD WATCHING OVER US
On Saturday night, the evening after Dad died, Ying Ying’s boyfriend Dennis was driving from Champaign to Chicago … he fell asleep at the wheel and woke up upside down in his car. He got out and called his friends to pick him up on the expressway, thinking he was still in the lane headed towards Chicago. The people who had gathered around him clarified what had happened. He was facing the direction towards Champaign.
His car had hit the median strip, and flipped over into oncoming traffic. Fortunately for him, it was the middle of the night, and there were not that many cars on the road, so neither him, nor anybody else got hurt. His car was totalled, but he survived with only slight scratches on his face. The doctors said it was a miracle. He believes there was divine intervention. I say it was Dad looking out for him because Dad didn’t want his little girl to suffer the loss of another person she cares about in such a short time frame.
PHONE CALL
On Thursday, May 12th, the day before I left HK for Chicago, I called my Dad to tell him I was coming to see him soon. That was a Wednesday evening in Chicago… he told me he’d be home in two days and that he’d call me then. But, he was groggy from the morphine, so I could barely discern what he was saying at the time. I could only understand him saying that he’d call me later.
It was only after my father’s death that I found out what had actually happened on the other end of the phone in Chicago. Tang and Aunt Sau Fong were at my father’s bedside in the hospital. About two minutes before my Dad’s phone rang, he was lying in bed, he looked forward, smiled, and said my Chinese name, “Wai Wai” … then, minutes later, the phone rang, and it was me calling. It was like he knew I was about to call.
We still don’t know if he meant “going home” to be going home to my sister’s place in Champaign, or if he meant that he was really going to leave us in two days. Apparently, by that time, my Aunt says, Dad was already saying that he was going to die very soon… but she kept telling him to hang on until I arrived from Hong Kong.
CHINESE NUMEROLOGY
Other coincidences… You know the Chinese fascination with numerology, and the number “3” (pronounced “sam” in Cantonese) as a lucky homonym for “life” or “living”… well, Dad was born on the 30th of January 1942. He died on the 13th of May. His wake was on the 13th of April on the Chinese calendar (20th May on the Western calendar). His remains were buried on a Wednesday (3rd day of the week) with a service commencing at 3pm.
************
DIVINE INTERVENTION--OR DAD WATCHING OVER US
On Saturday night, the evening after Dad died, Ying Ying’s boyfriend Dennis was driving from Champaign to Chicago … he fell asleep at the wheel and woke up upside down in his car. He got out and called his friends to pick him up on the expressway, thinking he was still in the lane headed towards Chicago. The people who had gathered around him clarified what had happened. He was facing the direction towards Champaign.
His car had hit the median strip, and flipped over into oncoming traffic. Fortunately for him, it was the middle of the night, and there were not that many cars on the road, so neither him, nor anybody else got hurt. His car was totalled, but he survived with only slight scratches on his face. The doctors said it was a miracle. He believes there was divine intervention. I say it was Dad looking out for him because Dad didn’t want his little girl to suffer the loss of another person she cares about in such a short time frame.
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