Grandma Fong's New Place

After Tommie died, Grandma wasn't really sure what she was going to do.  She couldn't live in her apartment by herself for any extended period of time, and so the family started exploring different options.  Jack's dad and uncle live in the area, but neither of their homes seemed like a good fit.  So they looked at some assisted living facilities.

They found a fabulous place for her to live.  She has her own studio apartment, but there is a dining room with nice meals all day.  There are lots of activities for her to be involved with, and the facility provides transportation to her doctor's appointments.  She is more active than she has been in years!

We went to visit her in April, and she seemed so happy.  We had a nice lunch with her, and even had the opportunity to explain why each place was set with two forks (and it's not so you can shovel in food twice as fast!). 

Christmas Day

Christmas morning is such a special time. The children are so excited. The girls were up at 5:15 am, ready to open gifts. They had to wait until Joseph got up, so they looked in their stockings and ate a big breakfast of sausage and french toast before Joseph got up at 6:20 and we could open presents. The kids got a Wii this year. They all are really enjoying it, but Rebecca most of all.

Miriam was a cute Santa!

While we were waiting for Christmas dinner at Jack's parents' home, Joseph, Rebecca and Sebastian watched a Veggie Tales Sebastian had gotten.

Miriam played with her new cars that come apart instead.

David and Jack visiting.

John, Will and Julie

Julie with the beautiful bird she cooked.

Celebrating a Life

Last Tuesday we gathered as a family to celebrate the life of Tommie Fong. His funeral services were brief and focused. He was remembered. We laughed and remembered the great person that is gone from us at this time.

It was also a time to learn new things about Tommie. Who knew that Grandma met Tommie when her first husband brought him over to the house? I had no idea that Tommie traveled so much, going all over the U.S. and traveling abroad as well. I found out that Tommie would take his much-younger siblings out to amusement parks when he went home to visit. So Tommie was the best man at Bob and Lee's wedding, and Bob was best man at Grandma and Tommie's wedding. Tommie kept his marriage to Grandma a secret from his family until his sister Paula bought plane tickets for the two of them and put the wrong name on the ticket.

Tommie lived a rich, full, interesting life. He will be missed. John, Jack, David, Julie, Jennie, Linda

Tommie's sister Paula is sitting next to Grandma.

Grandma and Paula

Miriam in Tommie's hat.

Rebecca in Tommie's hat.

Tommie Fong

October 29, 1925 to
November 5, 2009

Tommie had been suffering from liver cancer for a while now. There was no permanent treatment that the doctors could do for him, so he did some chemotherapy and also enlisted the help of different Chinese herbs. Tommie's body finally gave in to the effects of age and cancer on Thursday, November 5.

Tommie lived a full life. He was born in China and lived there for the first 13 years of his life. He experienced a total change of lifestyle when he moved with his family to San Francisco. His family still lives in San Francisco, and he always enjoyed returning to visit them.

Tommie worked as a chef at a steakhouse in Denver for many years. John Elway would request that Tommie cook for him. I remember when Jack and I got married, Tommie would still go to work at the restaurant on Saturdays for the regular weekend crowd. He was 75 at the time.

Tommie liked to watch football, play the lotto and cook. He would go to the grocery store nearly every day. Tommie was always cheerful and willing to talk.

Tommie and Grandma Fong had been married for a long time. Jack doesn't remember Grandma without Tommie. I never saw them apart.

Tommie was blessed to pass from this life peacefully and quickly. Even though he has been struggling with his health, he was still living at home up until his hospitalization on Monday. We had planned a surprise birthday lunch at his favorite restaurant for Saturday, but he didn't feel up to it. But he was able to go to Uncle Bob's to watch as the trick-or-treaters came by.

We will miss Tommie, but we are grateful he was able to live a full life.

Visiting Grandma Fong

We went to dinner at Jack's grandmother's home yesterday. As we were coming in, we all gave Grandma a hug. Rebecca was very excited to see Great-Grandma, so she knocked Grandma over with her hug. Literally. We had to pick her up off the floor. Rebecca gets exuberant at times and will jump into your arms for a hug. Well, Grandma, at 80 years and 8 days, wasn't expecting this and tumbled right to the ground with Rebecca underneath her. Jack and I felt horrible about it. We were grateful we didn't have to whisk Grandma off to the emergency room!

After all that excitement, things quieted down for a nice visit. We looked at pictures of Grandma and Tommie's recent trip to San Francisco to visit Tommie's family as well as Jack's Uncle Bob's kids. We found time to discuss politics, World War II ration stamps, and baseball. Grandma fixed us a nice dinner, including 5 spice chicken (Jack's favorite thing she makes!). The kids really liked the red punch Grandma had.


The kids also enjoyed playing with all the noisy toys Grandma and Tommie have. They especially liked the Halloween Basset Hound. Once Miriam started dancing all over the living room and Joseph started playing with the breakables, we decided it was time to go home.All in all, a nice visit. Definitely memorable!