I was working on a Saturday, which was my birthday, but technically a Friday for me, so I was excited about my weekend, which consisted of spending quality time with my family. That evening, fifteen minutes before end of shift, I decided to call home to see how everyone was doing, my father answered the phone indicating to me that there had been an automobile accident involving my brother who was with his fiance and our niece and nephew. My father did not inform me on anything else, because he was unaware of the magnitude of the accident, only realizing that it was a minor traffic accident. There was so much going through my mind, I tried maintaining a positive outlook, but deep down inside I kind of figured that something is terribly wrong. Unable to reach anyone other than my father, finally, I paged my friend who then called me back indicating that they are on their way to the hospital(Trauma center), he wanted me to meet them there immediately. I arrived at the emergency room, opened the swinging door and my sister and fiance was crying and they told me my niece and brother's fiance did not make it.
My brother was in the operating room with major injuries and my nephew was fine with only a laceration under his eye. Later that evening, I was given permission to see my niece in a room, she had a white sheet over her frail and motionless body, as I removed the sheet she looked as thought she was in a peaceful sleep. Once again, I saw my niece that eventing and gave her twelve kisses on her forehead and told her that I loved her. I found out that my brother's fiance was tooken straight to the morgue. After the operation, my brother was admitted to the SICU unit in critical condition with a spinal cord injury and a possible head trauma.
It has been tough dealing with the losses of my niece and brother's fiance, and my brother becoming disabled from the accident. Prior to their deaths, they had aspirations and a zest for life. For instance, my niece was intelligent, athletic, caring, loving, and a precocious 12 year old girl who loved life. She would without any hesistation take full responsibility in caring for her two younger brother's when her mom was visiting her father at the hospital, she was incredibly amazing and had a beautiful heart, I miss her so much. My brother's fiance worked and attended school full time, she was so close in attainign her degree. Also, she was going to marry my brother this year. She had a tremendous impact in motivating my brother to finish school and conquer his goals. We all miss her dearly, she will always be our Sister-in-Law in our hearts forever. The father of our 12 year old niece passed away 12 days later from a short bout with malignant cancer. Our brother-in-law was a good father who provided his family love, happiness, and support. Although given more time to live, I know in my heart that our brother-in-law passed sooner than expected, because he wanted to be with his daughter who he loved so much. We miss him dearly.
1999 has been a bad year for my family, hopefully, this year we are blessed with happier moments which will create beautiful memories that are embedded in our hearts forever.
Scott Yi
