Albert is my youngest brother. There are five brothers and two sisters in our family. Albert was very close to his family and we all cherish our baby brother. I want to share our joy in the gift that his life was to us, and the pain that his passing brings. In sharing the joy and the pain, may we lessen the pain and remember clearly the joy.
Growing up in Vietnam, we lived in a beautiful French villa with a huge garden. Albert enjoyed riding bikes in the garden with his brothers and playing with our pets, two dogs, two cats, and a monkey. We also had a big pond where Albert and his brothers raised their tropical fish. The brothers also loved to catch the lizards, frogs, and other insects from the garden. To the horror of their sisters, they would perform surgery on these animals and dissect them. Our oldest brother, Pascal, was sent to Hong Kong to pursue a British education at La Salle College. A few years later my two youngest brothers Pierre-Yves and Albert, followed in Pascal’s footsteps and went to study at La Salle College too.
Every summer we looked forward to Pascal’s return home to Cholon, Vietnam, and spending the summer vacation with us. We, the little brothers and sisters were always in awe of our big brother, who taught us how to play Monopoly, and introduced to us Elvis’s songs. We spent our beautiful summer days swimming or playing badminton at the Cercle Sportif in Saigon. We also loved to wander along the tree-lined paths or take a leisurely stroll through the plant conservation area in Saigon Botanical Garden. We took turns capturing our adventures in photos. Those leisure summer days were the happiest days of our childhood.
Because of the war in Vietnam, our parents sent all their children to continue their higher education abroad, one brother in France, two brothers in Canada, two brothers and two sisters in the U.S. Due to the long distance we did not get to see each other often, however, we managed to visit one another on certain occasions. One of the memorable trips was our visit to Albert in Wisconsin, he took us to explore the Wisconsin Dells with its unique Cambrian sandstone rocks and canyons. I still remembered vividly when he took us to go through the Fat Man’s Misery Rock. It was a very small hole between some big rocks, we all managed to go through it. It was such a hilarious and fun experience!
I also remembered our family reunions at Pierre-Yves and Mary’s home in Canada. It was such a joyful occasion to get together with our mom and all my brothers Pascal, Benoit, Daniel, Albert, and my sister, Caroline, and their respective families. The lobster feast was the highlight of the day!
Albert had a very special bond with our mother. One year he took our mother back to visit our birthplace in China, Kouang-Tchéou-Wan 廣州灣 (Fort Bayard in French), Zhanjiang 湛江 in Chinese. My mother was very happy to revisit the hospital where my dad was the doctor in charge of the hospital, and she was the midwife there. They also visited our beautiful home which was a French villa facing the beach.
Our most recent visit with Albert was in December 2016. Wallace and I spent 4 days in Hong Kong with Albert and Candice. It had been 25 plus years since we had been back to Hong Kong. It was a memorable visit; we were grateful to have the opportunity to spend 4 solid days of quality time with Albert. He was our fabulous tour guide and helped us discover Hong Kong with new perspectives. We visited Tian Tan Buddha 天壇大佛, Polin Monastery 寶蓮禪寺, crossed Victoria Harbour 維多利亞港 on the Star Ferry 天星渡輪 , and admired the artifacts in HK History Museum 香港歷史博物館. Albert took us to Victoria Peak 太平山頂(扯旗山 via the Peak Tram, the view from the peak down over the frenetic city of Hong Kong and the Victoria Harbour, was just unspeakably amazing and gorgeous. Albert also took us to Hong Kong Garden 香港花園, Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden 南蓮池園, Wong Tai Sin Temple 黃大仙祠概覽, and Sik Sik Yuen Garden 嗇色園 where we discovered the statue of Lao-Tze 老子. Albert was like a walking encyclopedia. He knew every story that was related to each of the places we visited, we were never tired of his storytelling talents. He also took us to taste some wonderful Chinese food such as the vegetarian lunch at Nan Lian Garden and the ChiuChow dinner. He also took us to Mak’s Noodles 麥奀記雲吞, a famous noddle joint favored by the locals of Hong Kong. We also celebrated Christmas together at the MaWan Noah’s Ark Buffet 馬灣諾亞方舟自助餐. The highlight of our last day in Hong Kong was our reunion dinner with our cousins: Ho Hung Tak and his wife Iris, Mable and her husband Alex Shu, and Peter Ho. It was so nice to be reunited and reconnected with these cousins after so many decades.
Albert’s passing leaves a big void in our family. He is forever missed by all of us. We will always remember Albert for his love for his family, his loyalty to his friends, and above all his work ethic in his tireless research to incorporate American medicine into traditional Chinese medicine.
Rest in peace, Albert, my sweet brother. We love you very much. You are always in our hearts.
Helene Chan