纪念讲话－钱国农

  Today, we are here celebrating the life of Mr. Qian Guonong. In Chinese cultures, we always try to associate the celebration with the weather we happen to have. I want all of you to take a moment and enjoy the beautiful weather through the giant window in front of us. The blue sky and clouds shows no indication that we just had snow today. Snow is no special to most people but it is precious in the South. Indeed, Qian is a precious friend we lost.

  As the last speaker having enjoyed all the eulogies on Qian from the family, friends and co-workers, I find the celebration to be an education seminar describing a life with meaning. It is a love story with his wife Jinya Chen that started 40+ years ago when they were just 17 years old. It is about hardworking, helpful, friendly and dedications.

  If I were allowed to pick pictures for the slide show, I would pick two in my mind. The first one would be a man with a Nissan pick-up truck. Qian is the first Chinese that I know who own a truck. As some of you have just described, Qian is very handy. With that truck, he supports his family and helps many others. And yes, he did drive to my house and replace the garbage disposal. He cooked the famous Nanjing duck at his house and taught me the process of two-day marinating followed by half an hour steaming. I tried twice but failed.

  The second picture in my mind would be the one taken in Norcross Family YMCA. I know him and his wife for 15 years and for the past ten years, I only get to see him in YMCA on the weekends --- but never himself along. He has always been accompanied by his beloved wife. They would swim together, sit in the hot tub together, and enter the steam room together. If permitted, I promise they would take shower together!

  Qian also had struggles in his career and I was once encouraging him to do the home repair and modeling business in Atlanta Chinese community, until one day that he told me he found his dream job. He became a maintenance staff at Emory that could fully utilized his skills and hobbies. I could clearly see his happiness every time we met in YMCA. This is a job that he had planned to retire from. His tenure at Emory also allows his daughter to study at Emory tuition free, a factor that contributes a lot to his job satisfaction and pride. We have just witnessed the emotional testimonials from his co-worker friends on his performance and dedication at work.

  Qian is a down-to-earth family man and his happiness is always closely tied to his family. People can be wealthier with a high-paid job or be higher in social status. But at the end of the day, it is the love and relation with your family and friends that really matters. Qian has a loving family, loyal friends and a job he enjoys every day. For that, I admire him as the luckiest, richest and the most successful man in the world. We all need to learn from him and find the true meaning of life.

Yale Xiao

1/23/2016

Atlanta, Georgia

Originally published at: Facebook