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General Season's Greetings / professor Hi Bahl Lee*65
2018.12.14 10:46
 Dear friend,
The year 2018 is coming to a close and I hope the year was kind to you. My father passed away on May 12, 2017 and the formal mourning period, with a reception room open in Sang-Mae-Dang for visitors expressing condolence, ended in 6 months as suggested by my late father but my mourning continues until May 12, 2019 as the tradition taught me.
I sustained a compression fracture of L4 spine in a fall at home in April this year and had to stay in bed for 3 months. I was back on my feet in July and resumed morning walk but the rehabilitation takes time. I depend upon a cane and have to rest twice for 5 minutes each for my one-hour walk around the village.
On May 12 this year I erected a stone monument on my parents' graveyard. The epitaph was composed by Prof. Jae So Song, one of my late father's trusted students and written by Mr. Dong Ik Lee, a master calligrapher and a friend of my father.
I still work 2 days a week at the Kim's Clinic and Dialysis Unit, read and write Confucius: The Analects 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, and continue lunch meetings with Toero village elders once a month.
In October I participated in the 9th Korea-Poland Seminar on Chronic Kidney Disease and Renal Replacement Therapy in Warsaw, Poland. I was happy to see the evolution of our Seminars over the past 18 years, from clinical to basic sciences, from clinical observations to mechanistic studies utilizing animal and human cells at molecular and genetic levels.
I was equally happy to see the participation of more younger colleagues from both countries. After the Warsaw Meeting I was invited to speak at Medical University of Bialystok, Poland by Prof. Beata Naumnik and to Baxter Novum in Stockholm , Sweden by Prof. Bengt Lindholm.
My wife Jung and I enjoyed the extraordinary hospitality of our hosts in Bialystok and Stockholm and the beautiful Autumn colors in both cities.
In Warsaw, Jung and I paid tribute to Prof. Andrzej Werynski at his gravesite. Mrs. Maria Werynski was waiting for us at the Cemetery. Prof Werynski and I started the Korea-Poland Seminar and the First Seminar was held in Warsaw in 2000. He passed away in 2011 and I was at his funeral and this was the second visit to his gravesite in 7.5 years.
In Sweden, we paid a visit to Mrs. Louise Tranaeus, wife of the late Dr. Anders Tranaeus, a long time friend of ours. Together we went to Blacksta Cemetery on a sunny and beautiful afternoon to pay tribute to Anders at his gavesite. Anders passed away in 2015 and I was unable to come to his funeral. This was my first visit to his gravesite. Jung and I stayed overnight in the beautiful Yngsta home of Tranaeus'. Louise was a gracious hostess as always.
In November I was invited to speak by two of my students from Soon Chun Hyang University, Dr. Mi Kyung Chung of Sokcho and Dr. Moon Soo Kang of Cheongju. Jung and I were well received and treated by our hosts and we very much enjoyed our visit to the two cities.
I have been the Editor of Toero Lee Family Bulletin (biannual) since 2015 and on December 1, I printed and circulated the Bulletin No. 35 to all Lee Family members.
We had unbearably hot and dry summer this year but, in Toero, we had good harvest of persimmons this fall. We peeled 1,000 persimmons and hung them high up on the eaves of Sang-Mae-Dang to dry. We shared the remaining persimmons with neighbors and friends. We also enjoyed fresh vegetables from our garden throughout the spring, summer, and fall this year.
Our 3 children, their spouses, and 5 grandchildren are all well. Jung and I wish you a Happy New Year!
Jung Hee and Hi Bahl Lee from Toero, Miryang |
Comment 2
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황규정*65
2018.12.14 10:53
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Thank you, Dr. Hwang, for sharing Dr. Lee's news and annual report from Korea,
which has become a sort of tradition in this space this time of the year.
It is indeed good to hear that he still leads quite a productive life, which is remarkable.
I'm sorry to hear he has physical difficulty resulting from a fall, which should remind
all of us of where we are in terms of chronological age and our physical limitations
with poor balance, etc., which causes the high incidence of falls and accidents among the elderly.
Season's Greetings,2018 is coming from Professor
Hi Bahl Lee*65 in Korea via E-mail and I would like
to present this at our websites mainly for sharing
this information with my classmates of 65. KJ