Couple bequeaths hope to the living
March 26, 2011, Saturday
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LOU Yueli, 91, is still grieving for his wife Liu Baohua, who died of a heart attack on New Year's Day in 2010, but it wasn't until this year that he will be able to sweep her tomb during traditional ceremonies of the Qingming Festival next month.
The delay was caused because he and his wife both signed up to donate their bodies to medical research when they died and her ashes weren't available for interment until almost a year after the body was first taken to the school of medicine at Jiao Tong University.
Donating bodies to medical research is a noble gesture, especially in China where reverence for the dead runs deep.
When it came time to honor his wife's behest, Lou found it a painful task.
"It was really a very hard decision because we had been together for 64 years," he said.
"I thought I would die before her because she was 10 years younger than me. I never thought I would have to be the one to see this through."
In tears, he dialed the Minhang Red Cross Society after his wife's death.
He was so broken up that the staff there said he could change his mind and choose instead to bury his wife. He steeled himself and said, "No, she was clear what she wanted."
The couple moved to Minhang in 2006, where they lived in a residential community in Pujiang Town for people relocated by 2010 World Expo. Lou is a veteran of the war against Japanese Aggression.
"I was prepared to sacrifice my life for my country during the battle," he said. "I was seriously injured, and luckily, I survived. My wife and I lived at a spacious apartment after relocation. We were very happy. "
They registered to donate their bodies to science in 2008, not even telling their sons of their decision until the consent certificates arrived. Lou said he and his wife believed that donating their bodies was another way of serving their country.
Lou bid a final farewell to his wife in the hall of the medical school on January 3 last year. The ashes of donors there are subsequently sent to the Fushouyuan Cemetery in Qingpu District and buried in groups. Their names will be carved in batches on tombstones. "When I think of my wife, I look at her photo and her certificate of organ donation," Lou said, wiping away a tear.
The delay was caused because he and his wife both signed up to donate their bodies to medical research when they died and her ashes weren't available for interment until almost a year after the body was first taken to the school of medicine at Jiao Tong University.
Donating bodies to medical research is a noble gesture, especially in China where reverence for the dead runs deep.
When it came time to honor his wife's behest, Lou found it a painful task.
"It was really a very hard decision because we had been together for 64 years," he said.
"I thought I would die before her because she was 10 years younger than me. I never thought I would have to be the one to see this through."
In tears, he dialed the Minhang Red Cross Society after his wife's death.
He was so broken up that the staff there said he could change his mind and choose instead to bury his wife. He steeled himself and said, "No, she was clear what she wanted."
The couple moved to Minhang in 2006, where they lived in a residential community in Pujiang Town for people relocated by 2010 World Expo. Lou is a veteran of the war against Japanese Aggression.
"I was prepared to sacrifice my life for my country during the battle," he said. "I was seriously injured, and luckily, I survived. My wife and I lived at a spacious apartment after relocation. We were very happy. "
They registered to donate their bodies to science in 2008, not even telling their sons of their decision until the consent certificates arrived. Lou said he and his wife believed that donating their bodies was another way of serving their country.
Lou bid a final farewell to his wife in the hall of the medical school on January 3 last year. The ashes of donors there are subsequently sent to the Fushouyuan Cemetery in Qingpu District and buried in groups. Their names will be carved in batches on tombstones. "When I think of my wife, I look at her photo and her certificate of organ donation," Lou said, wiping away a tear.
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