Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/01/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Phong - this I readily agree - most Orientals view the passing of Lunar New Year with great trepidation when seriously ill - it was therefore not material that your uncle was in Montreal - his heart was in his homeland. Joseph Low - -----Original Message----- From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Phong Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 5:19 AM To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: RE: [Leica] Happy New Year - Tet, a personal note All that calendrical talk was not just idle talk for me. Someone very dear to me died yesterday after several months battling cancer. He was 77. As Tet approached, he knew his final days were nearing. His wish was to make it past Tet, as you increase your age on Tet, according to Vietnamese customs, not on your birthday. He succumbed at 6:00pm yesterday, Montreal time. Born in the late 1928 in North Vietnam, his lifetime spanned an "interesting" junction in Vietnamese history. He had to leave his home when the Communists took over in the 1950's; and once again when they took over the South in 1975. An avid violinist and photographer, he had to abandon his medical training when he was drafted; he later had to leave behind a very honorable career in law, where and when the law was not always the rule of the land. Though he was a Nikon man, he appreciated my Leica and Rolleiflex very much, as they were the cameras of his time; on the day he evacuated from Saigon, he grabbed his camera bag, and shot with that Nikon F until a burglar took it from his home in Montreal. He continued to shoot, scan, and Photoshop until his very last days. Yesterday afternoon, surrounded by his wife, sons, daughter and grand children, he was told that at that moment, it was already Tet in his beloved home land, and that, indeed, he made it thru Tet. He passed away shortly thereafter, with a faint smile. He was the sweetest man, and is missed by us all. - - Phong - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html