Fw: Happy Easter

 

----- Original Message -----

From: wistarwood@aol.com

To: frankm673@cox.net

Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 3:53 PM

Subject: Fwd: Happy Easter

Thanks for your comments today, Frank. Thoughts of Sign of Jonah have been with me for a long time, but this email is the thing that set off my call to you. Can you put it on the blog and see if anything at all happens? Meanwhile, I'll save it on my machine.

Happy day,

Bertie

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard and Fay Chang <rafchang@sbcglobal.net>
To: Audrey Yee <wyee@socal.rr.com>; Martha Altus-Buller <mbuller@prodigy.net>; Mabel Hogle <mhogle1@verizon.net>; Kathryn Long <klong@uclalumni.net>; Walter Wong <waltwong65@yahoo.com>; Dennis Long <dennis.s.long@sbcglobal.net>; Gene Kilroy <gkilroy@pacifier.com>; Mike Kilroy <m1@kilroy.com>; JenKilroy@aol.com; Bertie Wood <wistarwood@aol.com>; Harold Hambrice <hhambrice@yahoo.com>; saw khim chng <lillianchng@yahoo.com>; Kiar Ling Strahm <kiarling.strahm@sdcounty.ca.gov>; juneinoceanside <juneinoceanside@cox.net>; Matt Ross <mattrosslj@hotmail.com>; Angeline & Bob Thonus (ks_saw@verizon.net) <ks_saw50@verizon.net>; Soh Leong Lim <sohleong@sbcglobal.net>; Sue Brunkow <suebrunkow@yahoo.com>; Peter and Sioeling Young <snpyoung@comcast.net>; Eddie Young <erymel@hotmail.com>; Derek Gable <DerekGable@cox.net>; Dr. Jim Helms <jhelms304@sbcglobal.net>; Bob Lois White <Avogrow@cox.net>; CRAIG T WHITE <ctwhite2000@msn.com>; Cynthia Jim Meketa <CMeketa@sbcglobal.net>; Charles Joyce Gordon <CJGordon3@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Fri, Apr 2, 2010 7:05 am
Subject: Happy Easter

In the Spirit by Fay Chang

 

The alarm in the house sounded horrendously. Its sound was different from what I had heard before as these new smoke alarms had recently been installed. My burnt grilled cheese sandwich was an hour gone now, but perhaps its residue was still in the air. I opened the doors to the nighttime darkness. The alarm ceased but within half an hour sounded again. I rushed to place a chair under one smoke alarm mounted on the lowest ceiling just as the sound stopped. I prepared for the next sounding by setting a cane by the chair. This time when the alarm blasted, I poked with the cane at the silence button. The poking didn't work. The sound continued and then stopped on its own.

Would this half-hourly, one minute alarming go on all night? No wonder Richard had dismantled all the smoke alarms after one such episode. I walked into the kitchen and stopped by the stove. I stared at one particular burner. No flame was burning, but its switch was turned on. I switched it off and stared this time at the gas alarm. Richard had installed it not long before he died. I inspected the device closely. It had two alarms: explosive gas and carbon monoxide. That explained why at one point I had heard two overlaid alarms sounding. I was hesitantly stunned. Richard, knowing my track record, anticipated that I would need that alarm. The sentiments on the sympathy cards are true. Richard is with me.

Several weeks ago Catherine, Richard's sister, shared a somewhat similar story. She was visiting her other brother Edward in Amherst, Massachusetts. During the night, she got up to go to the bathroom. In the unfamiliar darkness she thought she was stepping through the bathroom door when she actually stepped into the stairwell. She tumbled head over heels all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. She had aches and bruises all over from finger to seat, but nothing was broken or bleeding. She said to me that she felt Richard's spirit had protected her from injury.

Jeannine Kilroy, the daughter of Richard's longtime engineering colleague, emailed a cheery story. She was visiting her brother Pat in Palos Verdes and asked him for some avocados from his tree in the backyard. When he brought them to her, they discussed possible engineering solutions to his problem with the squirrels related to the avocados. Pat quoted Richard Chang and actually mimicked his voice in a charming way. The next morning Jeannine received my email and learned of Richard's death. Pat meanwhile discovered that the youngest avocado tree which he overlooked had a surprising abundance of fruit for the first time. Pat and Jeannine talked again about Richard. The timing may be a coincidence, but Jeannine felt that Mr. Chang was saying, "I am in a good place and also am still with my friends and loved ones on earth." She concluded. "I think that Mr. Chang is making his 'rounds' and we are honored to have been included in the first week."

Richard died the first week of spring 2009, a year ago. He died in his own bed as he had wished, in the house he had designed, surrounded by his garden, on the farm, on the mountaintop. The day before, he had picked two fragrant bouquets, one of roses and one of sweet peas. He had told me months earlier that he had no regrets. He had done all the things he wanted to do. Even though I was alone in the house the morning he died, I felt no fear. I felt instead a surge of power and purity and clarity. I said to myself that people would be coming, so I vacuumed the house and cleaned the bathrooms, in between making and taking phone calls.

Like unexpected angels, three wise women from my prayer group made visitations. Marcy and Jean arrived in the afternoon. Unsure of her memory and unlike herself, Marcy had driven slowly up the road and was passed by the vehicles from the mortuary. I was not alone at this crucial moment. Marcy and Jean were with me to hold hands and pray. Vickie visited in the evening and offered to stay overnight. I declined her kind offer. By then I knew that I was ready for a quiet night of sleep.

All year long, the phone calls and messages and cards and visits have continued. They are like divine hugs. The sadness comes occasionally, especially when I hear certain hymns. I paraphrase: "God of my life, through all the circling years, I trust in thee ... With each new day, when morning lifts the veil, I own thy mercies, God, which never fail." Mainly though when I think of my life with Richard, I am joyously grateful.