十月十九日，农历九月初九，又是遍插茱萸的日子，京芬告诉我：昨天你走了……
你因患肝癌，回京做完肝切除手术，八月初回到美国和妻子女儿团聚后就走了。刚过生日，满五十二周岁。
当听到这个消息时，我并不震惊，也不哀伤。可能是因为已经料到了这个结果。
也可能是因为昨天我突然高烧而自顾不暇。也许是因为恰巧我从收音机里听了一则童话。
家里正在装修，住在临时周转房里看不到电视。我每天又恢复了二十年前的习惯，听收音机。
童话故事的大意是这样的：爷爷马上要去世了，大人们不忍看离别的这一瞬间，都闭上了眼睛，而不懂事的小孙子却睁大了眼睛注视着爷爷。忽然爷爷叫孙子的名字，带他走到野外。他们看到了灿烂的阳光，金黄的向日葵，和大片的树林。他们还看见了一个虫子蜕去的皮。爷爷告诉孙子：“这是小虫蜕去的躯壳，它没有死，只是变换了一种活着的样子”。祖孙俩每走过一处，爷爷就缩小许多，最后孙子把爷爷捧起来，顶在头上，返回病房。这时大人们还在闭着眼睛流泪。孙子问：“爷爷你还在吗？”爷爷说：“在。”孙子对着爷爷的身体又问：“这是你的躯壳对吗？”爷爷说：“对。”
你在，对吗，罗毅！你在听，是吧！
小的时候，罗堤堤（你的小名）是咱们八一厂大院儿五五年出生的这群孩子的骄傲：会拉提琴，篮球也打得好，还能长跑，学习就更不用说了，在年级数第一。有一次考试，我的成绩总分比你多零点几分，高兴的我呀，在心里偷着笑，那个时候不敢真笑，怕别人批评你骄傲。
如果没记错，我和你入团的时间也差不多，都是在高中临毕业的时候。
毕业后，我们十个人（男：张之川、刘南宁、刘志纯、董书君、还有你；女：卢晓梅、常京芬、龚一华、宋昭、还有我）咱们踌躇满志，一起去了北京大兴县红星公社鹿圈分场头号大队插队。
回想第一次回家，咱们骑着自行车，你带路，驮着浸有自己血汗的新稻米往家运的情景，恍如昨天。
昨天呀，昨天！就是那个秋天，我们知青组扬糞一千多亩啊！前面拖拉机耕地；小毛驴车送糞，在大片大片平坦的良田上堆起一个个糞堆，像晏鼠拱起的小土包；后面是社员大军平整土地。我们第一年下乡就做为主力，加入了秋播的行列，虽然腰直不起来了，胳膊举不起来了，手上打满了血泡，可是，我们没让拖拉机和小毛驴儿拉下，也没有让社员大军赶上。自豪、兴奋，澎湃的热血激荡着，创作出了＜扬糞歌＞。夜里我把写好的歌词交给你，第二天天刚亮，你就把谱好的曲子交给了我，我知道你也很激动，是的，非常非常的激动，非常非常的兴奋……。
头号大队知青女声小合唱队带着这个歌去县里汇演；北京人民广播电台的老宋来知青点儿录音，我们的歌声在大兴的田野上回响，在电波里飘荡……。你是我们的艺术指导和首席伴奏员。
“秋风哎，爽爽哎，衣衫随风扬哎，知识青年歌声朗朗下地把糞扬，铁铲银闪闪，钢叉光亮亮，来到农村改造思想更知五谷香，更知五谷香。扬啊，扬啊，一手老茧练思想，扬啊，扬啊，一代新人在成长。”
罗毅你还在，是吗！在和我们一起唱，对吧！
啊…，你还是拉着那把琴在为我们伴奏啊!
秋天，就是在这个晚秋，你化去了，化掉的只是你蜕去的躯壳。
三十楼的朋友 读书时的同学 插队时的知青：滕易
2007年11月19日星期一
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Remembrance Speech
Yi Luo 1955 – 2007
Remembrance
Family, Colleagues, Friends, and Admirers of Yi.
Can I say first to Yi’s family how much we share in your loss. All of Yi’s wonderful qualities you experienced within the family were also very much a part of our privileged experience of Yi as a friend and colleague. I feel it an honor to be here to come and say a final goodbye to a great colleague and a wonderful friend.
Yi was universally admired, respected, and loved. His grace, generosity, wisdom, patience, respect, balance, integrity, and compassion showered upon those of us fortunate enough to have interacted with him. These qualities transcended his professional career, but, unsurprisingly, they are evident there too. The tributes from his colleagues make that so clear. We loved him, not just because he was a great engineer, but because he cared.
And he was… He was a great engineer with a knack for problem solving, and attention to details that is inspirational. As one of his colleagues wrote: “He was a pivotal piece that many do not know. When we released a new product, Yi knew the pieces to make it happen seamlessly.”
But more importantly, he cared and spent from his own time to get a release out, or help a colleague solve a problem. In return, many of his colleagues felt compelled to recommend him for some form of recognition or another. But the truth is Yi was not doing it for the reward and that’s why we all loved him. I take comfort in the fact that the products he helped release have far reaching and positive effects on people’s lives everywhere; whether it is connecting family members together or helping Doctors reach isolated parts of the world.
I can’t help but think that his choice for a career was a reflection of his kindness and desire to help. It came as no surprise to me when I learned that he found comfort in logging-in to work to try to help right before he checked into the hospital
I was truly touched by the flurry, and content of condolence and tribute emails that came through from all his colleagues and friends. I was further touched by offers of help and support. It confirmed to me that kindness and good deeds can never be forgotten (and by the way, a compilation of some these emails is being shared with the family). One colleague wrote him a poem:
That night
You stayed up late
Not for money or fame
But for the convenience of the team
That weekend
You stayed online
Not for entertainment
But for the last build of the release
That year
You joined Netscreen
Not just for a job
But also for the success of the company
That life
You moved from country to country
Not for your reputation
But for a better life for your children
That minute
You held my hand firmly
Not just to say goodbye
But also used up your last energy
That moment
You kept tears in your eyes
Not for the pain
But for teaching us the lesson of life
I wish I could read to you every tribute I have received. It has been so hard for me to prepare this remembrance, because every time I sat down to read my emails, the tributes moved me to tears. Personal experiences of kindness, courtesy, and grace; of encouragement to others and modesty; of inspirational teaching and extraordinary impact; relentless examples of his good sense and the genuine pleasure he took in what he did; of his humanity, and commitment; his integrity, his warmth, and his humility; his intellectual and moral stature; his professionalism, his positive approach, and his honesty; his selflessness, his generosity, and his dignity; his empathy, and his friendship. What an astonishing catalogue of characteristics; what a role model; what a treasure.
I will forever be grateful to have known Yi. I will forever be grateful for spending 4 years of my life with a friend like him. All the memories I have shared with him will forever be cherished and remembered. Yi will forever live in my heart… In our hearts.
A sad occasion like this demands that we stop and think about deeper things—why are we doing what we do, what are our goals, and what contribution can we make? The answer is different for every individual, but Yi’s life stands as an inspiration. We mourn his loss, but we celebrate his life—a special person who always made others feel special. That is overwhelmingly how we will remember him and we should all be thankful that we were given the chance to have known a man named Yi.
Omar Ansari
October 21, 2007
Remembrance
Family, Colleagues, Friends, and Admirers of Yi.
Can I say first to Yi’s family how much we share in your loss. All of Yi’s wonderful qualities you experienced within the family were also very much a part of our privileged experience of Yi as a friend and colleague. I feel it an honor to be here to come and say a final goodbye to a great colleague and a wonderful friend.
Yi was universally admired, respected, and loved. His grace, generosity, wisdom, patience, respect, balance, integrity, and compassion showered upon those of us fortunate enough to have interacted with him. These qualities transcended his professional career, but, unsurprisingly, they are evident there too. The tributes from his colleagues make that so clear. We loved him, not just because he was a great engineer, but because he cared.
And he was… He was a great engineer with a knack for problem solving, and attention to details that is inspirational. As one of his colleagues wrote: “He was a pivotal piece that many do not know. When we released a new product, Yi knew the pieces to make it happen seamlessly.”
But more importantly, he cared and spent from his own time to get a release out, or help a colleague solve a problem. In return, many of his colleagues felt compelled to recommend him for some form of recognition or another. But the truth is Yi was not doing it for the reward and that’s why we all loved him. I take comfort in the fact that the products he helped release have far reaching and positive effects on people’s lives everywhere; whether it is connecting family members together or helping Doctors reach isolated parts of the world.
I can’t help but think that his choice for a career was a reflection of his kindness and desire to help. It came as no surprise to me when I learned that he found comfort in logging-in to work to try to help right before he checked into the hospital
I was truly touched by the flurry, and content of condolence and tribute emails that came through from all his colleagues and friends. I was further touched by offers of help and support. It confirmed to me that kindness and good deeds can never be forgotten (and by the way, a compilation of some these emails is being shared with the family). One colleague wrote him a poem:
That night
You stayed up late
Not for money or fame
But for the convenience of the team
That weekend
You stayed online
Not for entertainment
But for the last build of the release
That year
You joined Netscreen
Not just for a job
But also for the success of the company
That life
You moved from country to country
Not for your reputation
But for a better life for your children
That minute
You held my hand firmly
Not just to say goodbye
But also used up your last energy
That moment
You kept tears in your eyes
Not for the pain
But for teaching us the lesson of life
I wish I could read to you every tribute I have received. It has been so hard for me to prepare this remembrance, because every time I sat down to read my emails, the tributes moved me to tears. Personal experiences of kindness, courtesy, and grace; of encouragement to others and modesty; of inspirational teaching and extraordinary impact; relentless examples of his good sense and the genuine pleasure he took in what he did; of his humanity, and commitment; his integrity, his warmth, and his humility; his intellectual and moral stature; his professionalism, his positive approach, and his honesty; his selflessness, his generosity, and his dignity; his empathy, and his friendship. What an astonishing catalogue of characteristics; what a role model; what a treasure.
I will forever be grateful to have known Yi. I will forever be grateful for spending 4 years of my life with a friend like him. All the memories I have shared with him will forever be cherished and remembered. Yi will forever live in my heart… In our hearts.
A sad occasion like this demands that we stop and think about deeper things—why are we doing what we do, what are our goals, and what contribution can we make? The answer is different for every individual, but Yi’s life stands as an inspiration. We mourn his loss, but we celebrate his life—a special person who always made others feel special. That is overwhelmingly how we will remember him and we should all be thankful that we were given the chance to have known a man named Yi.
Omar Ansari
October 21, 2007
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