[Rhodes22-list] Gone West

[Brad Haslett]

Slim,

Just got back from 'tinkering' at the hangar.  We had a long discussion
about that last night and again this morning.  Traveling to Beijing is a
major PITA right now and Fan decided against it - I have no choice but to
fly the next two days (about to go non-current) and Cora doesn't need
another clock adjustment two weeks before starting school.

We've been through this vicariously with friends twice in the last six
months.  A couple we're close to and live geographically near have had to
deal with almost the exact situation twice in the last six months.  The
husband took a months leave of absence this spring to be with his younger
brother dying of cancer (40ish) and the wife just got back three days ago
from spending time with her sister (same age range, cancer, and died while
she was coming home from China).

My best friend from the time I lived in Nashville made one of the best
observation of Mr. Shen years ago anyone could hope for, "he's got the
kindest eyes of any man I've ever met".

I see them in Cora.

Brad



On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 1:58 PM, Steven Alm <stevenalm at gmail.com> wrote:

> Condolences to you, Fan and family, Brad.  Sounds like he had one heck of a
> life.  Will you be traveling to Bejing?
>
> Slim
>
> On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 12:08 PM, KUHN, LELAND <LKUHN at cnmc.org> wrote:
>
> > Brad,
> >
> > My condolences.  It's not the years a man has lived but they way in
> > which he has lived them.  Sounds like Mr. Shen lived them well.
> >
> > Lee
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Brad Haslett [mailto:flybrad at gmail.com]
> > Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 7:02 AM
> > To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
> > Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Gone West
> >
> > The phone rang around midnight last night (noon Beijing time) and my
> > first
> > thought was, "this can't be good".  My older boys are finally well
> > established in their responsible young adulthood period so my next
> > thought
> > was "parents".  Fan's father got up from the breakfast table, said he
> > didn't
> > feel well and was going to lie down for a nap.  He never woke up.
> >
> > Mr. Shen was an interesting man.  He was born into a prosperous family
> > that
> > had their wealth confiscated after the civil war ended in 49'.  He and
> > his
> > wife were both mechanical engineers and he was well respected as an
> > engineer
> > and manager of several different factories. During the Cultural
> > Revolution,
> > he was stripped of his job and title and the associated privileges, but
> > later partially re-instated because even idealistic revolutionaries need
> > people who "know how to make things work". Throat cancer at the age of
> > four
> > and the resulting surgery robbed him of the ability to speak louder than
> > a
> > whisper.  When he spoke, people somehow knew it was worth the extra
> > effort
> > to listen carefully.
> >
> > While living with us, he quickly became Gracie's best friend.  She
> > couldn't
> > wait for the first walk of the day and would quietly wait for him to
> > practice his Tai Chee excercises. I was still a Rhodes 22 owner then and
> > he
> > and I built a cradle for the boat in the back yard.  His English was on
> > par
> > with my Mandarin, non-existent, but with patience and pictures and lot's
> > of
> > hand gestures, we usually got our points across to each other.  On a
> > later
> > visit I taught him how to drive (in a parking lot) and how to sail,
> > flying
> > was next on the agenda.  He loved to share with his peers back home all
> > the
> > new skills he'd learned.
> >
> > Attached is a photo of Mr. Shen on his grand daughter's sailboat. He was
> > 78
> > this year.
> >
> > Brad
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