Words of Remembrance: my mother, Elizabeth Chin

This morning, we’ve come together for my mother Elizabeth Chin’s funeral. This is not a time to mourn, but a time to celebrate my mother’s life, to give thanks to God for the gift of her in our lives, in whatever capacity or way we had been associated with her, whether as her children, sons and daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nephews, nieces, friends, neighbors, former students or her caring attendants in the last years of her life.  While this is a satisfying closure of a life well-lived in our earthly domain, it is also the beginning of an eternal and beautiful life in the Heavenly abode, with God and the angels and saints, and with Dad.  God called Mom home at the best time of year, a time to celebrate Christ’s birth.

My mother was born Liang Sau Hai in Hong Kong on Sept. 6, 1922. She spent her early and adolescent years in Hong Kong but left for China during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in the Second World War. She and Dad were married at the end of the War and returned to Hong Kong to settle and raise a family. They migrated to Canada in 1969, giving up well-respected careers in Hong Kong, in order to give their children, Tony, Joe, Judith and myself, a better life, a more promising future. Our parents had been together for 69 years until Dad’s death two years ago at the age of 97. Mom and Dad taught Judith, Joe, Tony and myself well by their exemplary manifestations of Christian values in all aspects of life, career, marriage, parenthood, grand-parenthood, and in our relationships with family, relatives, friends and acquaintances.  The overwhelming messages of condolence I have received from Mom’s past students at Sacred Heart Canossian College in Hong Kong where she had taught for over twenty years are a testament to how much she meant to them as a teacher, a mentor, and a friend.  She was a pious woman, serving the less fortunate in Hong Kong as an active member of the Legion of Mary for many years, performing works of charity in the true spirit of what it meant to be Christian. Prayer including the rosary was a constant part of her daily routine. God had blessed her with years of relative lucidity after her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease about nine years ago, until the last few months knowing us, calling us by name, remembering people who had been close to her. She was blessed with quality of life made possible to a great extent by the unconditional care of my sister Judith and brother-in-law Gary. As late as end of September this year, when her grandson Tim visited her, she advised him to buy a house soon, for investment.  At mealtime, she loved studying photos of her grandchildren, great grandchildren which Judith had laminated on placemats for her. At the end of October on my second last visit to Edmonton, when I peeked into her room in the hope she’d be awake enough for me to say goodbye before Michael and I left, we found her fully awake in bed. She was clear-headed enough that we were able to share some tears. That was our real goodbye, a moment that will live with me for the rest of my life.

On a small plaque given me by a friend were engraved these words, “When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.”  Our mother, Elizabeth, had graced and enriched with her life all of us present here today, and all those dear to her who are unable to attend her funeral. She has become a living memory in our hearts, a memory that has become a treasure. Let us celebrate her life. 

Words of Remembrance at Elizabeth Chin's funeral, Edmonton, Canada, December 31st, 2016