Today November 29th is the anniversary of my maternal grandfather’s death. He passed away when I was 11 years old, so it has been 38 years.
I still clearly remember the morning.
My grandfather had been in the hospital for many months. He was surviving with all the tubes. It was the matter of time when the family decided to stop the tubing treatment and let him go. My grandmother passed away when my mom was a baby. So, it was the decision of my mother and her two sisters.
Those days my brother and I had spent our days busy in folding 1,000 Origami cranes for our grandfather’s recover. It is the Japanese traditional way of prayer for somebody. We folded cranes all day whenever we had time. Our futons were surrounded by many origami papers and cranes. We didn’t know the morning was the X-day when they decided to stop the treatment
My mom came back home crying. She could not say a word to us at first. Instead, she started cleaning up the origami. Then she finally told us we don’t need to fold cranes anymore.
With her word, my brother and I realized our grandfather was gone.
***
It was my very first death that I encountered.
My grandfather visited me in my dream and even in the funeral. I could see him clearly and vividly.
He was smiling. He said he was back to his original hometown. He said he had a good life and didn’t have any regrets. He felt light and happy. He wanted me to celebrate his return. He made me happy. I started laughing out loud whenever he made me laugh. I sang songs out loud whenever he asked me to do so, because he didn’t want me to cry for him.
I told everything to my mom about what I heard and saw from my grandfather.
My mom didn’t believe me. She called me a liar. She was so mad at me. She scolded me badly until I cried. I wondered why my mom could not hear and see my grandfather.
***
Now I know the reason.
When we are very close to the person who has just passed away, our emotions are in the way for the departed spirit to contact us. I was still a child, and I was not trapped by my emotion, I was open. So, I was the only one whom my grandfather’s spirit could contact with.
This memory with my grandfather is still one of my important ones. It was my very first death that I encountered.
My grandfather visited me in my dream and even in the funeral. I could see him clearly and vividly.
He was smiling. He said he was back to his original hometown. He said he had a good life and didn’t have any regrets. He felt light and happy. He wanted me to celebrate his return. He made me happy. I started laughing out loud whenever he made me laugh. I sang songs out loud whenever he asked me to do so, because he didn’t want me to cry for him.
I did so. And I told everything to my mom of what I heard and saw from my grandfather.
My mom was so mad at me. She scolded me badly until I cried. I wondered why my mom could not hear and see my grandfather as I did.
***
Now I know the reason.
When we are very close to the person who has just passed away, our emotions are in the way for the departed spirit to contact us. At that time I was still a child, and I was not trapped by my emotion. I was spiritually wide open. So, I was the only one whom my grandfather’s spirit could contact without any issues.
This memory with my grandfather is still one of my important ones.
three wisdom 