Another Passing

Friday started off as any other day, but just as me and the missus was about to leave for work, we got a call from her sister that her father had fallen down. An ambulance was called to the house as he could not get up. 5 minutes later the call we all dreaded came. My father-in-law had passed on. It was so sudden, the morning was filled with the children all rushing down. As the paramedics could not certify death, we had to look for a doctor otherwise he had to be brought to the hospital, after some frantic search and calls and driving around (well it's not easy to find a clinc that is open at 7am in the morning) finally found one to certify that he had a Stroke. Preparations had to be made, the undertaker was called and the afternoon was filled with getting everything in order from his clothes to legal documents to getting the permit to stage the wake. Buddist prays were said and he was laid in the coffin for the wake. Family was all there except for a daughter-in-law who was rushing in from overseas. I guess it was lucky that it happen in the morning just before everyone left for work otherwise he may have been all alone at home and no one would know until the end of the day. I remembered him when I first met him while I was still going out with my wife, he was sort of the interpreter for me as my mother-in-law could not speak English and my Hokkien is rather limited to what you learn in the Army which isn't helpful for everyday conversation. He was 80, a jovial man and I am sure he had lived life to the fullest.