At 9 am this morning, many people and I attended Mr. Huang Jianhao’s funeral at Shushan, a local crematorium. The Yongning Hall was almost packed with people, who were mostly friends and colleagues of the deceased, as well as his family and relatives. Wu Yuhong, principal of Haigao, delivered a memorial speech representing the school. The process was quiet and solemn, and quite a few people couldn’t help but sob, especially when Huang’s wife made her speech and bade her last farewell to her husband.

Huang Jianhao was a computer teacher of our school. We were all shocked when we heard of the news that he was diagnosed with lung cancer in late August of this year. He was only 33 years of age! His life had just begun! His parents need his support and his little daughter his love and care. Modern medical science and technology was not able to save his life. It was only 46 days after he was found with terminal cancer that he passed away! As friends and colleagues, we couldn’t accept the fact that he had really left us. How was it possible for his family and relatives to face this reality?

If I remember correctly, Huang came to work at our school in 2000. My first impression was that this young man was a bit shy with few words. However, we soon found that he was very devoted to his work and more impressively, he was highly skilled in computer science. Allow me to be frank, not every computer teacher is capable of solving various problems we encounter. And he seemed to be one we could rely on. If you called for his help, he would come to your rescue very promptly though he had his own things to take care of. Several years ago he was promoted to the position of director of the Information Center. When the school moved to a new location, the whole Internet system, including the school website, had to be set up from scratch, which required enormous time and labor. Throughout the process Huang played a vital role, busy running about.

Huang Jianhao was a common person just like you and me. His life was short with only a little more than 33 years. In the long course of history, he seems tiny, not worth mentioning at all. However, he did his bit wonderfully. Without anything big or great, he completed his life with something that will make us think of him, something that has made so many people feel sorry and weep for him. After all how many of us can do things that will greatly affect or change this world?