Grandpa Lin's Eulogy

My uncle asked all the grandchildren to write a short excerpt in remembrance of our grandfather.  Here's mine.

Note:

In Taiwanese,
Agong means Grandpa
Amah means Grandma

The Generation Gap

Every time I visited Agong we would attempt to bridge the seventy odd years of experience between us.  Dad would send me out to talk to Agong and fill him in on the happenings of my life.  I would tell Agong that I got into UC Berkeley!  That I got a girlfriend! That we broke up!  That I'm following in his footsteps studying as a civil engineer!  Whenever we had these chats Amah would always be fretting to and fro nearby, constantly moving, constantly busy, but always chiming in with translations of what Agong was telling me.  Agong's heavy accent was already hard to understand and it was further exacerbated by the fact that he had such a large repertoire of languages at his disposal.  He would start out with English, revert back to Taiwanese, and at times, slip in a couple words of Japanese.

I was often frustrated by our language barrier and am thankful for the supplemenation of Amah's relentless record keeping and amazing memory.  Time after time she would pull out a book or photo or her handwritten records of Agong's accomplishments to elaborate on Agong's words.  Little by little I learned more about Agong's life and why all the older folk in Tainan respected Agong and went out of their way to attend to his family.  Learning how he negotiated water rights for the city, visiting the museum that exalted his political career, and hearing the stories that led to Taiwan winning the world little league championship under his guidance made me stand a little straighter, walk a little taller, and smile a little wider at my good fortune to be part of the Lin family.

Agong you've accomplished so much and lived such a full life, it's no wonder that in the rare times I saw your typically stoic face break out into a smile, it also brought a knowing twinkle to your eye.  I now know that hidden behind that twinkle was a powerful politician, a thoughtful leader, a caring husband, and a loving  father.  Someday I hope to also leave my mark on the world, but at my current 25 years of age, I'm content, and proud, to call myself your grandson.

-Kuanhung