Friday, March 22, 2013

Life Imitating Art

If you have known me in the past 4 years, you likely know that I enjoy watching Korean (And Taiwanese, and Japanese) tv shows, often called 'dramas'. No, they're not soap operas, at least, not the ones I watch, and they sometimes have great stories. Now, while I enjoy watching somewhat dramatic things on my tv/computer screen, I don't enjoy when they happen to me in real life.

Two years ago, my brother came to visit me in Seoul. Now, sometimes you watch a drama and see people go through sooo many near misses that you scoff, saying "That never happens in real life." Nope. It really happens. And let me tell you, it's frustrating and irritating when it does happen. (It all worked out, so it was a comedy, not a tragedy, but it has gone down in the family annals.)

Now, if I tell you a story about a vital, lively widower who found a second chance for love with a widow who was his student many years past, you might sigh and smile at the sweetness of the story. But if I throw in a wrench and tell you that the widower tragically dies less than a year after their wedding, you might tell me that I'm being melodramatic and unrealistic or unfair and overly tragic. I wish. That vital, lively widower was a man I've known for nearly a decade as "Uncle Ed." I knew his first wife, and all who knew them were shocked when she died 3 years ago, within a week of contracting pneumonia. We were happy for him when he introduced a beautiful, gracious lady at church, and married her last June.

When we heard that he'd contracted pneumonia early this year, our hearts twinged, remembering the death of his first wife. It was a serious battle, but when I was home in February, he seemed to be on the mend. Just this week, I started to realize that he was not going to make it. He passed away only a few days ago. He had lived a full, productive life, but it still seemed unfair to him and his new bride, that their time together was cut off abruptly, that their happiness in their new love would be washed with the trial of a long, losing battle with death.

I know that I'll see Uncle Ed again. He was a staunch believer in Christ, and spent much of his life teaching others to know Him, too. Knowing this doesn't mean that I won't miss him, though, and, thousands of miles away, I deal with the pain of knowing that a man that I loved like a grandfather, who loved me and prayed for me regularly, is no longer in this world.

Maranatha.

No comments: