One week

It's been one week since Paul's funeral, peace and calmness are already coming back.

I wanted to write a piece when I returned from the funeral, but one thing leads to another, I procrastinated till now. After 7 days, the memory is already not fresh any more; if waited longer, I doubt whether I could recollect enough bits to make this a memorable event. No matter how you dislike it, memory of the passed-away does fade so fast after all.

The funeral probably had nothing special. Paul and Karen are both religious, so the Catholic procedures threaded the ceremony. In the beginning, some not-so-close friends and colleagues stayed briefly, paid their respect, and left. Those who stayed were mostly from the church. The ceremony was quite smooth and touching. I was not so familiar with Paul, so only knew briefly about his history; in the funeral, however, I learned a lot more. I got to know his full Chinese name, his character as a child, and some of his chronicles; the slide show of the family told us where they had been, the stories of their lives together, and the happy moments. There were pictures of them setting foot on different corners of the world; pictures of pregnant Karen holding tightly with Paul, emanating bliss and pride; pictures of the baby clinging to Paul while Paul was so clumsy and obviously scared of the vulnerable thing. I really had a hard time to hold my tears. That was the journey they had been through, the short-lived happiness that everybody would hope to last forever; yet they only had that for a short 3 years.

Time came when we walked up to pay our last respect. Through the thick and uneven plaster like makeups, I could hardly recognize this face as the same face in those pictures; this face was pale and delicate, and lifeless. He surely was resting in peace already.

The closing of the casket was not shown to anybody, including family members; when Paul's body was wheeled out of the patient's quarter, the same rule applied. Call it cruel or not, this at least avoided some heart wrenching sights.

It has only been 7 days, and we are already forgetting. Life is such a journey, it is a magic when you are alive and enjoying, but fades away with little trace and in little time when the life is gone.