So close, so far away, so deep in love

Picture╱Wang Zhiyuan and Liao Meihui

▲My mother-in-law’s favorite rocking chair made the couple miss each other.

Zhiyuan

The son wants to be raised but cannot be kissed

Since childhood, he has been a "little boy" who was pampered by his mother. Every time there is something delicious, she will bring it to me first. She said she was full even though she hadn't eaten yet; it was her favorite, but she said she didn't like it. After washing every piece of clothing and socks, my mother folded them neatly like a treasure and placed them neatly in front of my bed. When I come home late from school, my mother always stands in front of the door, waiting for me to return before she goes to bed peacefully. Later, when I grew up, started a family, and settled abroad, she still took good care of me, an "old boy," every time I came back to Taiwan to visit.

In 2018, I asked my boss for a three-month leave for the first time and returned to Taiwan to be with my mother. Although my mother is over 80 years old and has to use crutches to walk, she still insists on making soup for me, arranging my clothes, and pampering her son. That day, when I saw my mother walking hobblingly and cooking with trembling hands, I couldn't help but say, "Mom, let me do it!"

On the eve of returning to the United States, she told me with tears that the past three months had been the happiest moments in her life. Because no one has ever "pampered" her like a queen! That was also the only time in my life that I loved my mother with practical actions in the kitchen.

My mother used to be a devout Buddhist. On the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month, burning incense, worshiping, and offering sacrifices to ancestors were all important events that she had to do. Although I have been a believer in the Lord for many years, whenever I talk to her about my faith, she always evades the important points and says, "Just believe in your God, and you will be happy." Even though I have prayed for my mother for many years, I still only hold on to a glimmer of hope. Don't dare to force it.

On the eve of my return to the United States three months later, I knelt in front of my mother and invited her to pray together. She nodded in agreement and accepted Jesus Christ with simple faith at the age of 82. When she repeated after me: "Lord Jesus, I would like to invite You to come into my heart and be my Savior and the Lord of my life," I couldn't help but shed tears. My mother finally believed in the Lord. After years of prayer, God heard.

▲The world is so close, so close! When I flew back to Taiwan, I was fully equipped with a mask.

On July 16, 2020, my sister received an emergency call from Taiwan that her mother had suffered a sudden stroke and was in critical condition. My husband and I immediately booked flights to return to Taiwan. It only took 15 hours to fly from the United States to Taiwan, covering a distance of 12,000 kilometers. However, the last two kilometers from home to the hospital took 14 days due to home quarantine. Unfortunately, my mother passed away on July 22 (the third day after we returned to Taiwan). So close is the end of the world, so close to the end of the world! The epidemic is raging, causing so much sorrow in the world!

Please count the people in front of you carefully. They bury the weeds once a year. The trees want to be quiet but the wind does not stop. The children want to be raised but cannot be kissed. If you can love, do it quickly! Because I don’t want to leave too many regrets, because I can’t predict the future, and because the time I spend with my elderly parents is too short, too short, and too hasty, because it’s very likely that I won’t have time to say goodbye to them!

A few days after his mother passed away, his son said that he dreamed that his grandma came to his home in the United States. He hugged her very tightly. The son couldn't stop crying, but her grandma was smiling... I said that grandma might have asked Jesus for leave and came to the United States to say goodbye to her grandson who was unable to return to Taiwan to see her off.

I miss my mother so much. Suddenly, I remembered Taiwanese singer Su Rui's song "If the Wine Can Sell Nothing":

"There is no heaven or earth...without you, how can I be...I never need to think of it, and I will never forget it..."

Grace

What can't be isolated?

The moment I learned that my mother-in-law was resting in the arms of my mother-in-law, I was surprised, guilty, sad, angry, and reluctant...

On the evening of July 22, 2020, I rushed back to Pingtung, Taiwan, from the United States with my husband Zhi Yuanfu. On the third day of home quarantine, my mother-in-law, who had been in a coma in the hospital for a week, could not wait to see us for the last time, and she had already finished her toil in the world. , return to heaven’s home.

It was less than five minutes' drive from home to the hospital, but due to quarantine restrictions, I couldn't rush to the hospital to visit. From then on, we never saw each other again. At that moment, my husband really wanted to rush to the hospital. My sister-in-law told me on the other side of the hospital that we must pay close attention to Zhiyuan and never let him step out of the house. If the violation leads to an epidemic in the hospital, the consequences will be disastrous!

Before returning to Taiwan for the funeral, we had to go through the test of 14 days of home isolation, and these 14 days became an unforgettable chapter in our lives as a couple.

After finally flying to Taiwan, I still had to take a five-hour anti-epidemic bus back to my home in Pingtung. I habitually turned off my phone to charge it on the first night, and turned it on early the next morning. Unexpectedly, the epidemic prevention center called me and asked, "Where did you go last night? Why did you turn off your phone? People in quarantine cannot turn off their phones 24 hours a day. Don't you know?" "

I finally understand why Taiwan is internationally known as the "model student in epidemic prevention"!

The office manager called me every day to care about my physical condition that day, plus text messages and voice calls. It was a triple attack, which was overwhelming. A few days later, because my phone was accidentally put on mute, I missed an incoming call. The police actually came to the community to issue a warning, and then the local manager hurriedly called with concern and reminded him seriously: "There can't be a third time. If there is another missed call, a fine will be issued! The maximum fine is NT$1 million."

After arriving after a long journey, I was faced with jet lag, scorching heat, isolation, and restrictions; unable to see my mother-in-law for the last time, I felt angry, guilty, sad, and reluctant... The complicated emotions were really aggrieved and uncomfortable in the first few days of isolation. The couple's mental state once hit rock bottom, and they could not calm down. When you are quarantined at home in the United States, at least you have a front and back yard where you can get some fresh air. You can't leave your house here and you can't miss a phone call. It's like being locked up in a prison cell...

▲Meihui and Zhiyuan returned to Taiwan for the funeral and spent two weeks in quarantine at home, feeling as if they had walked through a thousand mountains. The picture shows the two people riding their bikes in and out of their residence in southern Taiwan.

However, the epidemic can isolate people's bodies, but it cannot isolate people's love. Brothers and sisters in the church use LINE to send us prayers to support us every day, which calms our hearts. On the first Sunday after seven days of quarantine, I finally confessed my sin to God, stopped complaining, and turned to gratitude. Start reading the Bible and praying, and watch the testimonies on Good TV. When you turn your eyes to the sky, you begin to feel that God has His good will and everything is His best arrangement.

Every morning when we get together, each psalm speaks to our hearts word by word, and the couple's hearts gradually gain comfort. For example, Psalm 13 says, “…make my eyes clear, lest I sleep unto death, lest my enemy say, I have overcome him;…but I trust in thy steadfast love, and my heart rejoices in thy salvation.” I will sing to the Lord, for He has been so kind to me." And in Psalm 84, "...They passed through the Valley of Weeping and turned it into a place of springs; and the blessing of the autumn rain filled the valley."

Some people say that "death is like a lamp going out." But for Christians, death is the "midpoint of life" rather than the "end of life." For ordinary people, death means "saying goodbye and never seeing each other again." But for Christians, death means "saying goodbye for now and seeing each other again in heaven."

The true meaning of life lies not in what you take away, but in what you leave behind; not in how you start, but in how you end. I think this is the example my mother-in-law left for us.

The unforgettable 14 days of home quarantine in Taiwan ended the sadness. My mother-in-law finished her life well, and we quietly completed our memory of her and our own healing.

Looking back on these 14 days, it was also a special time given by God to us as husband and wife: we both stayed at home quietly without going out at all, and were not disturbed at all, quietly thinking about my mother-in-law's hard life. There was plenty of time to organize a large number of family photos, and 11 days to fully prepare for the memorial service.

These cannot be isolated.