dad e-mailed me last night and along with the e-mail he shared with me an article (which i had already read before) that he also shared with the people in his hospital. it is in chinese, so i am going to translate it into english and share it with the people who come and visit my blog.

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Title: Always be with you

One night, a person had a dream, dreamed that he was walking with God in the beach. Images of his life suddenly flashed by in the sky. He found that in each of the images there are two pairs of footsteps: one is his, the other is God's. When the last image went by, he looked back at the footsteps in the sand. He found that many times there is only one pair of footsteps in the sand, and those times are the times when he was most depressed and sad. He asked God with lots of confusion in his mind, "You promised me that you would come to me whenever I call you for help once I vowed to follow you. You said you would always walk by me to support me, but I have discovered that when I was in the pit of misery there is only one pair of footsteps!! I don't understand why at the times when I need you the most you ignored me and left me walking alone." God answered gently, "I remember you, protect you, and I will never leave you. When you had difficult times and when you were down, you only saw one pair of footsteps, because it was me who was carrying you and walking..."

When we face difficult times, we often think that we are the only ones fighting against odds. When we feel hopeless and lonely, stop for a moment and look around. You will see that there are actually many people right by you. They are the most valuable people (not sure if that's the best way to put it) in your life. Recognize the givings from others, appreciate them, and give them back to others.
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i read this to mom last night because dad wanted to share it with us... it means a lot. i could hear his own voice when i was reading this article because i know what he was thinking when he read it himself. he told me on the phone that he knows mom is really nervous and worried about sars in taiwan, especially he is working in a hospital and especially when his "boss" said that if there are 2 sars patients in a hospital the hospital administrator should "resign." however, he is going to stay because of the vow he made when he became a doctor (even though he is currently not practicing now): a doctor should never abandon his patients no matter how hard the situation is, because it is his/her mission. that is really heroic... i am really really proud of him.