A Bittersweet Ending

byjetrbby80316

5K followers

Updated 4 years ago

Our trip ended in a bittersweet way, actually it was simply tragic and heartbreaking.

After arriving back in NYC from our trip to Asia at 10:23pm on October 15, within the hour while in transit we received an alarming text message from Felicia’s mom.

Felicia’s dad Mr. Peter Lin had an unexpected accident in the home – he slipped and fell down the steps and had to be taken to the hospital. This happened in Eastern Canada sometime between 10:30pm – 11:00pm.

He was 83 years young but still in very good health

Unfortunately Mr. Lin suffered severe head trauma due to the fall. Despite emergency surgery during the early morning hours, he had gone into a deep coma. He had to be placed on life support.

On October 17, he passed away due to complications from the fall.

A Shocking Heartbreaking Tragedy

This was shocking to us all, and heartbreaking news to Felicia and her immediate family and extended relatives. Mr. Lin was able to emigrate from Taiwan to study in America on a scholarship during the early 60’s “White Terror Era” where he later earned his PHD in the United States.

Subsequently by 1970, he went on to teach at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

Upon his temporary return to Taiwan in the late 60’s, he married a beautiful young Taiwanese lady (Felicia’s mom) before returning to America to teach at the University of Alaska. The newly married couple were supposed to reconvene several months later in the United States to live happily ever after, but Mrs. Lin was not allowed to leave Taiwan by Nationalist leader Chang Kai Shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) party due to the “blacklist.”

I write details about Taiwan’s convoluted political history and about this “blacklist”. If you are interested in reading my past article click the link below.

Passport to Taiwan

Unfortunately, this type of “blacklist” was the de facto standard under Chang Kai Shek’s authoritative rule of “White Terror” back from the early 1950’s through the md 1970’s.

It’s amazing that Taiwan later became a democracy after Marshall Rule was lifted in 1987 by Chang Kai Shek’s successor, his own son Chiang Ching-Kuo after his death in 1975. Several years later, a new opposing party to the KMT, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came into existence. However Taiwan’s first democratic president was not elected until 1996.

The Lin’s story is one of a handful of exceptions. It was only due to political connections through the university that Mrs. Lin was later allowed to leave Taiwan to join her husband (and the reason Felicia was born in Alaska).

A few years later, the new happy family moved to Ottawa, Canada. It was near where a few of the relatives were already living and where their sons and daughters were attending universities in Toronto.

Mr. Lin’s Legacy

Mr. Lin was a loving husband and father of two, a university professor in economics, who later became a successful economist in the private sector prior to his retirement.

His is an American success story.

We honor Mr. Peter Lin for his wonderful legacy, his exceeding generosity, love and devotion to his family, and his life-long service and ongoing commitment to the world community.

He will be cremated today, and I will soon be going to Canada to join Felicia and the family for the funeral ceremony from 10/30 – 11/4.

Cheers,

Kaju