In brief, a death in the family

There was hardly any time to mourn.

Preparing a funeral that fused both traditional Chinese and modern-day sensibilities was nothing if not draining. A mind-over-matter sort of thing: One must plow forward despite the tears, that others may shed them on one's behalf. 

My father would have been 64 by All Souls' Day. But when your time's up, it's just up. There's no bargaining with the fact.

I've been in Iloilo since the 7th, and will be staying here for the rest of the year. Dead-ass tired is what's become of me. Who knew it would end like this? Who knew gram-negative pneumonia would get him in the end, instead of his on-and-off bleeding problem from a liver that's screwed for life? 

So this is where I've been, and this is where I'm at. And this is where we move forward.