A Tribute to My Grandfather, Yuen Woo.

March 22, 1912 – July 11, 2002

Presented by David A. Wong

July 14, 2002

Being the one of the eldest grandchildren, my memories of Goong-Goong go back nearly two decades.  Through the years, he made me laugh and cry on countless occassions.   Many times we laughed together and occasionally we laughed at each other.

My earliest memory of Goong-Goong was probably around the age of three or four.  As many of my relatives can a test to,  I had a MINOR problem with separation anxiety.  Each day during the summer, mom would drop me off with Goong-Goong and Poah-Poah.  At some point, when I wasn’t watching Mom would slip out the door and leave me in their care.  On one occasion, Goong-Goong—fully aware that mom had left—came up to me and with a grin on his face said “Hey Davey, where’s Mommy?”  I ran to the window and the “blue car” was gone.  Immediately I began crying as Goong-Goong chuckled.  I cried… I cried… and I cried… and then as Goong-Goong looked on… I got sick all over the rug.  Goong-Goong had a horrified look on his face and out of pity quickly rushed me out to the ice cream shop to buy italian ice.  He then proceeded to spoil me for the rest of the day with Giant Brand rotisserie chicken and another round of italian ice.  Needless to say, Goong-Goong never again teased me about Mom disappearing.

Goong-Goong was also my first fishing buddy!  He took me to Wheaton Regional Park and Sligo Creek Park where I would catch minnows and crawdads in his favorite coffee strainer.  He would casually rinse the strainer out each time and place it back in the cabinet.  As a matter of fact, until this day, I don’t think anyone knew that the coffee they drank during family gatherings was tainted with all those fish guts.  I guess it was a secret Goong-Goong and I kept until now.

There were many other occassions when Goong-Goong made us laugh.  His smile, soft chuckle and warm teddy-bear like embrace will be engrained in my memory forever.  Even in his later years he refused to have anyone help him do basic things around the house.  On one occasion--after his first stroke--I told him I would be coming over to cut his grass and check up on him. “Its broke!” he said “Don’t come over!”  Later on that afternoon, when I came over to check up on him, he was sitting very frustrated on the front porch in what appeared to be work clothes.  He waived me over, and took me to the backyard where he asked me to see if the lawnmower worked.  In one pull I started it and he quickly pushed me out of the way.  He grinned at me and then proceeded to mow the lawn.  The wise old man had tricked me to start his lawnmower and refused to let me touch it, jokingly threatening to run me over if I didn’t move.

My grandfather was a very independent man!  He loved us, spoiled us at times, and brought many smiles to our faces with McDonald’s french fries and ice cream from the local store.  I know that even now, as I’m standing here recalling these memories, Goong-Goong is watching over me with a sly grin on his face and a pack of small fries in his hands.