On April 20, 2007, we received a call that changed our lives. It was our mom, her breath was frantic, uneven and panicked as she said, “Your father’s been in a serious accident!!” she trailed off, her voice barely recognizable. We froze, unable to take in what was said, our minds searching for meaning and clarity. It felt like a dreadful nightmare we weren’t able to wake up from. An hour later, we received the official call that our father was killed due to a street racing incident. He was driving home on that Friday morning, mere seconds from his destination when a street racer violently crashed into his car, killing him almost instantaneously. Our mother heard the cars crashing, screeching and chaos from her home and ran out to see the destruction. She saw the ambulances, the crushed cars and fell to the ground…unable to speak. While that was a while ago and we’ve accepted the fact that our father is no long with us, what torments us is that we did not have the luxury of saying goodbye. Due to the act of a careless and reckless individual, our father was deprived of his life, to live and to follow his dreams. Sadly, we lost a father but the world lost a Zen Monk whose goal was to heal people and bring communities together.

Despite the grief and turmoil, we have hope. We know that we can make a difference through VASR (Victims Against Street Racing) which was born out of our loss. It is an organization dedicated to eradicating street racing through outreach programs as well as giving support for the victims. We aim to prevent needless suffering and unnecessary losses.

As our father used to say, “Live today…for you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.” This certainly has a new and very real meaning for us and while we try to live each day to the fullest, we must also remember to do our part to make it a safe place for the ones we love.