At this sorrow moment, I just have a true story to tell.
At the time Sharon was born, we had a small group of very close college classmates and their wives. Sharon was the first baby in the group. We all got very excited about her coming. Upon born, Sharon looked kind of small and skinny, but she had a pair of very big black eyes that impressed us so much.
During her early life, Sharon actually spent most of her time with her grandparents. Soon, her grandpa started to teach her some Chinese words. One day, Sharon showed us she had already learned so many words at an age of less than two. Sharon’s grandpa said:看,我们仑仑都已经大学毕业了! 那种幸福和自豪的神情我到今天还记得清清楚楚. (“Look, our Sharon has already graduated!” It is the happiness and proud feeling on his face that I can still remember so clearly even today.)
Shortly after that, the members of the group pretty much stepped onto their separate life path. Sharon went to Oregon where her dad was studying. Until 1995, the tech boom brought the group back together again, this time in California!
During a period of a year or two, the group got together literally every weekend. We went to a lot of places together. Sharon was, of course, with us every time. We went to parks, mountains, beaches and so many other places…. I always think of those days when we watched Sharon and her little friends cheerfully playing under the bright California sunshine. Those days are really the best.
After some time, we don’t
get together that often any more, but when we did, we found the kids are
growing up surprisingly fast. Gradually, I found myself enjoying listening to
Sharon’s talking with her friends. 有一次, 我带孩子们去租电影录影, 我一边开车一边听仑仑在后面说话. 那是一种清快而流畅的语言.
那种优美的英语让我羡慕得不得了.
渐渐的, 我们开始听到象是某某可能有男朋友, 或是女朋友了. 我们越来越感到孩子们真得长大了.
有一次我们甚至开始讨论有一天他们会带者他们的孩子回来看父母,
说不定也会来看看我们这些叔叔阿姨们. (One time, I brought the kids to Blockbuster, and I listened to
Sharon’s refreshing and graceful voice while I was driving. I admired Sharon
for her way of mastering English so elegantly. Gradually, within the group of
the kids, we heard someone was having a boyfriend or girlfriend and until then,
we just realized that the kids would become grown-ups soon. We were imagining
that one day, these kids, as parents by themselves, would bring their kids to
visit us while visiting their parents in the future.)
Well, all these might be
a little bit too early. All we know is that Sharon, after getting straight As
with her AP classes, tried to find time to practice driving in that red Camry
her dad brought for her. She also got so fascinated with her iPod, a gift from
mom. Life is so beautiful and is just about to unfold its best chapter until
last Sunday. We rushed to Sharon’s house, only to find out this unbelievable
tragedy. Our hearts were completely broken. It seems only at that time, we
realized how deeply we loved Sharon. We couldn’t take this. But now we start to
realize that Sharon must have a reason since she left us in such an unusual
way. Let’s all believe Sharon left just because she needs to finish another
school project. Only this time, the project will take quite long. It will be so
long that we can’t witness Sharon’s future any more. But we still have so many
beautiful memories in our hearts to cherish. To our best friends, 育明
(Yuming) and 美华(Meihua), Sharon will remain a youthful
loving daughter forever in their hearts,
and in ours as well.
仑仑, 让我们说再见吧!
(Sharon, let’s say
goodbye!)
谢谢大家!
Thank you!