Friday, February 14, 2014

67 Memorial Tour in the Bay Area

All I was told from the bereaved family then was the memorial service would take place at San Francisco Bay in sea burial style sometime during the weekend of mid November. 

I was able to make this 3-day 5-night trip to the Bay Area (that's all I could afford to)  in my favorite "let-it-happen" style without car or hotel arrangements, but it turned out the best anyway.

I arrived in freezing SFO at night, picked up by my long lost friend from the art college. I felt like home seeing her, as her place was always my home every time I visited the Bay Area. 


The ceremony took place in the next morning, departing from a harbor in Sausalito. There were some old familiar faces as well as some new ones but mostly already familiar by Facebook. 

It was intimate and beautiful, with heartfelt saxophone performance by our old friend. Returning him to the ocean was the brilliant idea by his little sister, as he loved the ocean, always diving and fishing. 

The young lady who made this ceremony happen also flew in to join, and among the bereaved family and close friends, she was also crying on the boat, as well as at the memorial lunch which followed, where everyone shared memory of our dear departed. She said in tears, "It's so amazing how he touched my life so deeply when I only met him for a few minutes." 
After the beautiful ceremony, I decided to stay with my new friend who was close to the dear late friend in his last years and found out about his death first. She gave me a ride to her home in Nevada City. What an adventurous trip it was! 

She is a social worker, helping homeless people. And she told me that our dear late friend also helped so many lives and inspired people by his music performance on the streets and at local cafes.

She also is vegan by the way, and it was perfect to adjust my slack diet back to what I first started, since California is vegan friendly.

I had no idea but Nevada City had interesting culture, artistic galleries reminiscent of Berkeley, music performance everywhere, organic grown vegetables, and unpaved roads, full of something I had not experienced in daily life.

After paying a visit to his friends and given hugs from them the next day, I headed back to the Bay Area by Amtrak, then picked up again by my old school mate to take the memorial tour in our old school, my old neighborhood, and our favorite cafe in Berkeley. We had so much fun!

During the whole trip, I felt my dear late friend's presence and could sense him laughing, much happier than what he had been for the last few years. I bet he set me up to reunite with old friends and also new precious friends. 

Thank you, my dear old friend! I enjoyed every moment of the trip...and I know it's leading to something even more wonderful.

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