…for all of us, and death is never really easy to deal with. The loss of Jiao really makes me think of my own mortality. When will I die? How will it feel? Will it be sudden, or will I know when it’s going to happen? Well I know that I will at least have someone to greet me when I get there. Maybe Jiao and I will be friends.

I have been thinking a lot about paying the proper respects to Jiao in her native Chinese customs. It’s so sad that her family can’t properly pay their respects, let alone even know that she’s dead. Wait — did she even have a family? She was an orphan.

I’ve decided to take it upon myself to make sure the memory Jiao can live on, at least here in White Pine Bay. It says on a website that the Chinese usually mourn their dead for up to 100 days, and that seven days after the death the soul will try to return to her home, but the unguided soul is unable to find it’s way across water. Sadly, this means that Jiao’s soul will never be able to return to China.

Was Jiao religious? Did she even believe in this stuff? Aren’t the Chinese mainly Buddhist or Taoist? Or not even religious. So what website did I read? That must be a folk religion or something. Maybe I’ll just go put flowers next to a tree.