My mother called me from Taipei.

Uncle #6 on my mother's side was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer.

I don't know how many more deaths in my family I can handle.

I'm tired of visiting hospitals and attending funerals.

In my 22 years of living, ten family members have died on me. I've had no grandparents since 1999 and at the rate my relatives are dying, I'll have no aunts and uncles before I turn 30.

To make matters worse, Uncle #6 is the uncle I'm closest to, my favorite uncle. He may be the Roy Koopa of my mother's family, a hothead who once locked his son in a doghouse with the dog on a rainy night, but I still love him.

[pause]

I'd just like a few years without tragedy. For my sake. For my parents' sake.

C'est la vie.