Requiem

On 2 August, my god-grandmother Marti Bassette passed away from an unexpected stroke. She was my grandfather's half, and with her death he currently feels an incredible void as one would when losing one's spouse/lover/best friend of over 50 years.

On 8 October, my granduncle Tseng Bing Shiang (曾彬祥), died in Taipei after many years of battling cancer. He was a diplomat for Taiwan through many of her turbulent periods. He grew up during Japanese occupation, went to National Taiwan University majoring in international laws. He traveled to Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal, was quintilingual (Mandarin, Min Nan, Spanish, English, and Portuguese), and wrote eloquently. I can only imaging the stories he had during his deployment...

...and now, I can no longer just visit either of them on a random day and hear those stories.

This picture does not do justice, because I only finished it as a sketch/template for a bigger work, but it is all I have to offer for the love ones they left behind. As for words from the dead...a section from a poem by Ronan Harris.

moments lost though time remains
I am so proud of what we were
no pain remains, no feeling
eternity awaits
grant me wings that I might fly
my restless soul is longing
no pain remains, no feeling
eternity awaits

--from "Beloved", VNV Nation