The Final Goodbye
My Mother-in-law, Jae Ryon Chung, passed away on July 23, 2024. As noted in my previous articles, her health was in decline for many years. But no matter how much it was expected, her passing was still sad. While we miss her presence on this side of heaven, the manner in which she died was as extraordinary, as the way she lived her life.
My Mother-in-law had very specific wishes on how she would die. She wanted to remain at home and not die in the hospital. Although she was married to a physician, she had a mistrust of doctors and hospitals. She rarely went to the doctor and chose to use natural remedies to stay healthy and to heal diseases. She firmly stated that if you drink a cup of “konggook” (soy bean puree drink) that you won’t get cancer. She proved to be right, both my Mother-in-law and Father-in-law never got cancer.
She also specified that she wanted to die in her sleep. As her heart disease worsened and she would be plagued by heart palpitations, she would express to me that she was not afraid to die but that she didn’t want to suffer a prolonged and lingering death. My Mother-in-law would say (and mostly write in her wipe board when it became too difficult to speak) that she had no regrets. She lived a long life and felt very blessed by God. As a life-long Christian and a faithful Seventh-day Adventist, she knew that death was just sleep and that she would see Jesus’ face when she “woke up.”
During the last weeks of her life, the doctors were able to correctly assess that she only had a little time left to live. All nine of her grandchildren and one great-grandson, were able to visit her at home. Although she was very lethargic and slept most of the day, she awoke at times to gaze at her grandchildren and would smile a peaceful and sweet smile. Even to her last days, she was able to recognize her family.
On her last night, she was sleeping in bed and the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest signaled even breathing. My son, Christian, and my husband, Eric, decided to sing some hymns to her while she laid in bed. Eric prayed for her and wished her a good night. About twenty minutes later, my Father-in-law came to us to say that she seemed to have stopped breathing. When we checked on her, it was difficult to know whether she had really died or not. She had a beautiful and calm look. When we checked her pulse-oxygen levels, we still were able to detect oxygen. But the nurse arrived and pronounced that she was no longer with us.
So, Jae Ryon Chung passed away that night. Peacefully as if she was sleeping. God had kept His promise to her, “Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.” Isaiah 46:4