Our beloved mother, Chong Lee – 04/02/1965 – 10/18/2021

The morning of 10/18/2021, we had received the tragic news that our mom has left us behind.

Growing up, we barely knew our mom as both our parents separated and divorced while we were young. She remarried a couple times and later relocated closer to her siblings who reside in Sacramento, CA.

We, five kids (one boy and four girls) on the other hand, stayed with our dad residing in St. Paul, MN. Our dad took on the role of a single parent, father and mother. Days to weeks, weeks to months, and several years of struggles, he continued to provide food on the table and a roof over our heads on his own.

About 15 years later, our uncle had got in contact with us, letting us know that our mother is ill. She ended up in the hospital and was told that she will probably not make it. Us siblings did our best to our ability, took our first driving trip to visit her. She heard the news that we were visiting and had got a lot better and was later released.

We made our stop at the address that was provided to us and boy, we were not expecting what we had envisioned. Someone was outside knocking on metal appliances and told us to just go inside. We looked at each other, being very skeptical as we didn’t know at the time who the man was.

We stepped into her house she was living at the time and saw a woman with her back turned to us. We looked at each other again and didn’t know how to address the person standing in front of us. We asked, “Is Chong Lee around?” She answered, “Yes, please sit down. Sorry, the house is messy” as she walks towards us four standing in the living room. We looked at each other and a couple of us asked, “Mom?” ……. She looked at us and asked if we were her kids.

All of us just stood there crying and gradually hurdling together. It was a unique moment for us. We got to kindle with some stranger who turned out to be our mom that we didn’t even know or recognize. We finally got the chance to bond with her and slowly made our ways up to acknowledge her.

Years after years, we’ve gotten closer and closer to her. We started to learn of her health issues she was going through each year and tried to stay in contact with her to be more involved as much as we can. We visited her a couple more times when she goes to the hospital and do recall one of the visits, our dad tagged along. As time passed, the pandemic hit, and we’d only stay in touch via phone. We would call once every blue moon to see how she was doing. Sometimes, it could take 4-5 months without hearing much about her.

Later this year in May, we were provided with the news that her heart stopped multiple times but was able to be revived as she was in critical state. So again, to the best of our availabilities, we were able to make an emergency flight to visit her. We had complications visiting her. We weren’t on the list to make any visits at the hospital during the time. Did some calls, lots of talking and explaining of the situation and soon enough, they’ve finally allowed us to visit our mom after learning that we made a quick flight from MN to CA just to visit her. She later got better a few days afterwards and all went well. We had to leave as we all had work back at home and figured she was a strong fighter and is now in good state.

As months passed by, she would make a few calls here and there to check up on us and follow-up with us with what she was going through. When she couldn’t get a hold of any of us, she’d leave voicemails saying she misses us dearly and remind us that she loves us. Then suddenly, she just went quiet for a few weeks.

We then received the tragic news on Monday morning, that she had passed away. It was so sudden for us. It doesn’t feel real. We are speechless, hurt, distraught, confused, angry, stressed, and more so, SAD. We were just getting to know more of and about her. And now, we won’t be able to make any memories with her. The timing is such a bittersweet moment. We have been given the news that her mortuary service is held on 11/10/2021.

We wanted to share our short story of our experience to everyone. Due to the sudden circumstance of the loss, we are asking for any help to make our way over to California on such short notice as flights are highly expensive, just so we can have our last moment to see her lay to rest and towards a little help with the funeral.

We normally don’t ask for much but because of the timing and current situations, we are asking for any help. All of us siblings with our loved ones, would love to see our mom one last time, for memories.