Rest In Peace
Some of you know, that I have an adopted brother and sister along with a natural sister. The adopted brother and sister are natural siblings and are also cousins to my sister and I. Their parents passed away in 1999 due to complications from AIDS in Thailand. My uncle had an affair where he contracted HIV and brought it home to my aunt. He passed in June of 1999, and my aunt passed away in September of 1999. When my aunt was becoming ill, my mother promised her that she would take care of her children when she dies. As promised, my mother took care of them, adopting them so that they could have better education and to have a better life in America. When they came to the United States, they took on American nicknames Mark and Julia.
In the early hours of last wednesday, my cousin/adopted brother lost control of his car driving home from a friend's birthday party. His car flipped a couple of times ejecting him and crashing into a wall. Doctors suspect that he had been drinking and driving and definitely not wearing a seat belt. He was admitted to UMC's Trauma Center which is one of the best trauma centers in the southwest. He had severe head trauma and was in a coma since the accident.
On Sunday evening, he passed away with his family at his side. He was 23-years old.
It was a bizarre sense of dejà vu in a way. My mother and I were in Bangkok, Thailand when his mother had fallen into a coma. We visited her bedside everyday until she passed on quietly too. And now her son passes on in almost the same fashion seven years later. He was an amazing person. He and his sister came to the United States barely knowing how to speak English in 2001. I don't think it took them more than a year or two to speak English very well. Now his sister, Julia speaks like any other teenager...a billion words per minute.
In 2003, he left the house and started to live on his own. Mark was a very intelligent and very caring guy. He was so smart that he had learned also how to speak Cantonese from his friends at the Chinese restaurant where he worked! When he was in his last hours of his life, my family discovered that he was actually quite popular among his friends. So popular in fact that he had anywhere from 25 to 30 friends visiting in the last few hours of his life. And they were all so sad at his passing. Some fell to the ground crying and some were just angry that they couldn't go back there one last time to say goodbye. I am very glad that he had made such an impact on other people's lives. He had a very good heart and was very genuine and sincere. He is already missed.
Saksri "Mark" Thepwannakul
1983-2006
Rest in peace, brother.
In the early hours of last wednesday, my cousin/adopted brother lost control of his car driving home from a friend's birthday party. His car flipped a couple of times ejecting him and crashing into a wall. Doctors suspect that he had been drinking and driving and definitely not wearing a seat belt. He was admitted to UMC's Trauma Center which is one of the best trauma centers in the southwest. He had severe head trauma and was in a coma since the accident.
On Sunday evening, he passed away with his family at his side. He was 23-years old.
It was a bizarre sense of dejà vu in a way. My mother and I were in Bangkok, Thailand when his mother had fallen into a coma. We visited her bedside everyday until she passed on quietly too. And now her son passes on in almost the same fashion seven years later. He was an amazing person. He and his sister came to the United States barely knowing how to speak English in 2001. I don't think it took them more than a year or two to speak English very well. Now his sister, Julia speaks like any other teenager...a billion words per minute.
In 2003, he left the house and started to live on his own. Mark was a very intelligent and very caring guy. He was so smart that he had learned also how to speak Cantonese from his friends at the Chinese restaurant where he worked! When he was in his last hours of his life, my family discovered that he was actually quite popular among his friends. So popular in fact that he had anywhere from 25 to 30 friends visiting in the last few hours of his life. And they were all so sad at his passing. Some fell to the ground crying and some were just angry that they couldn't go back there one last time to say goodbye. I am very glad that he had made such an impact on other people's lives. He had a very good heart and was very genuine and sincere. He is already missed.
Saksri "Mark" Thepwannakul
1983-2006
Rest in peace, brother.