Emelia Hung Obituary

For more information, visit: www.emeliahung.com

Emelia Yi Hung was born on September 23, 1988, the daughter of Teresa Hung, Granddaughter of Se Gau Chang and Wai Lan Chang, and the sister of me, Anthony Chang; all of whom she loved very much and loved her very much. Emelia I miss you. I can't say I knew Emelia the best of everyone, though I did live with her for over twenty one years. That honor would go to my mother, Teresa Hung, who spent the most time with her during the last few years, living with Emelia, during Emelia's entire lifetime. Emelia was the most special person on earth to Mom and me. The best gift mom ever gave me was bringing Emelia into my life. Emelia's life brought joy to many people. Emelia was born and raised in Honolulu. She, mom, and I, lived with Grandpa and Grandma in Salt Lake until she was fourteen. Growing up, my grandparents enrolled Emelia into school and took her to and from school daily, often giving her money for food and snacks, cooked regular meals for her and helped raise her. She moved with mom and me to Downtown Honolulu in 2002 and still continued to be close to her grandparents.

In December 2004, when Emelia was sixteen years old, Emelia visited Reno, Nevada, all by herself, her first and only mainland trip. I bought her a plane ticket, the nicest thing I've ever done for anyone. For the trip to Reno and trip back to Hawaii, she was the youngest passenger traveling on her own. She saw snow for the first time; making a snowman, and stalked Canadian geese. She stayed with me at my dorm room, meeting and having meals with my friends. She visited University of Nevada, Lake Tahoe, as well as other sites in Reno. This was the best money I've ever spent, along with the Playstation Portable I bought her in 2005 which she used daily and had with her the last night she went out.

Intelligent and brilliant, Emelia graduated with honors from Moanalua High School in 2007. On the night of her high school graduation I walked with Emelia and dropped her off at Project Grad. When Emelia enrolled at University of Hawaii, she majored in Social Work because she wanted to help people. Years ago Emelia volunteered for the Humane Society, broadening her experience with animals.

Four years ago when Grandpa was in the hospital, she visited him almost daily. When we were told the only way Grandpa could leave the hospital was to have someone who would be willing to watch over him at home, Emelia volunteered without hesitation to take care of Grandpa, was learning from nurses how to do so. Emelia was willing to give up her job and her entire life to take care of Grandpa, the only grandchild to offer to do so. When Grandpa passed away, Emelia not only came over and visited Grandma regularly, but was the only grandchild to sleep over at the home of Grandma regularly. Emelia and I visited Grandma daily for three weeks after Grandma was struck by a truck and was with her the day Grandma was discharged from the hospital and allowed to return home. A little more than one year ago, Emelia visited and slept over at Grandma's daily the week Grandma passed away. Emelia gave to the homeless periodically. At a young age Emelia showed the greatest amount of love, compassion and kindness I have ever personally witnessed.

For one and a half years Emelia was the only one working in our family, and supported herself, mom and me on Emelia's income alone. At a very young age she had become the chief provider for the family, doing this while she was still grieving for Grandpa. Emelia always found a way to be content and at peace with her life no matter the circumstances, complaining very little. Emelia had optimism about life, the beauty of which could only be matched by her own physical beauty and seemingly unlimited energy.

I loved Emelia from as early as I could remember loving anyone, watching her first steps with my grandfather, and I still love her very much now. Growing up I helped babysit her, we played together with toys, stuffed animals (often giving voices to these animals), and video games. As we grew older we became more than just playmates, she became my friend, companion, confidante, advisor, and comforter. Our conversations would range from when I looked into her cute face, with those eyes full of energy and enthusiasm, the short baby talk exchanges we had, even as adults, as I thought Emelia was so cute and adorable, to more serious discussions. As other friends used cars as they got older, Emelia and I continued to walk everywhere together from as far from Downtown Honolulu to Ala Moana Shopping Center. For further distances we caught the bus. Whether we walked or caught the bus, even while waiting for the bus, we spent much of that time often talking and sharing with each other. We went hiking and jogging together. It was nice to come home and see Emelia everyday and see her in front of the computer we shared. She had a warm friendly presence and knowing she was safe gave me piece of mind. Sharing the computer, meals, and things in general with Emelia has been the most wonderful experience of my life. I loved talking to her at the end of the day. I liked watching her hop and up and down, moving all over our small apartment, watching her release her energy as her hair bounced up and down. I enjoyed sitting with her on the couch; maybe we were sharing a meal, maybe we were playing video games together, maybe we were watching a DVD together, maybe we were just talking. I loved everything about Emelia.

Emelia liked colorful pens, anime, video games, manga, books, picture art, and stuffed animals. She liked looking out the window of our 22nd story apartment. Emelia liked surfing the internet, looking for pictures to save on the computer, drawing, using graphic art programs to modify and create images. She created many images to help me as well as give to me, and created a wonderful birthday card of a cartoon monkey on my twenty second birthday. The ceramics she made in high school can be found in both of our bedrooms and our living room. She loved Asian food, especially sushi, as well as coffee, and sweet drinks in general. She drank a lot of tea at home. Her favorite television show was Glee, which we spent many hours watching together in front of a television screen or a computer screen. She also liked to cook, from curry, to hamburger helper, to croquettes. Emelia's favorite color is blue. She was frugal with money. Despite my family obtaining a large amount of money the end of 2012, my sister insisted on not spending it frivolously, only occasionally splurging on nice things to eat and drink. Emelia had a great sense of humor and she would often say funny things, poking fun at me.

One of Emelia's favorite things to do with me was to watch the movies, which we watched numerous together. She liked eating snacks at the movies, popcorn, adding cheese seasoning and mochi crunch to the popcorn. On at least two different occasions we watched four movies back to back together and many times watched two or three back to back. Emelia was the one person whom I enjoyed starting my day with, waking in the morning, and walking with her to the movie theatre, talking and catching up on each other's lives, hanging out with her all day from when the movie theatre opened to when the theatre closed, to walking home and talking about the movies we just watched, and then ending my day with Emelia. Brother-sister bonding time was a very special time for both of us. The best days, the happiest days of my life were the days I spent with Emelia.

Emelia was my best buddy. Between the two of us, she was the better sibling with the far more amiable personality. There was a lot I learned from her, Emelia was my greatest teacher. She introduced new music to me regularly through mp3s she shared, video games I would've never otherwise played, food I never ate before, movies I would've never otherwise watched, and books that I would've never otherwise read such as Harry Potter. Emelia tried to enrich my life with new experiences. Emelia always gave me great advice and lots of things to think about. She was a great decision-maker. Emelia was easily the greatest family member in our small family of three. Emelia was the best sibling I could've asked for. Emelia saw the most complete picture of me of anyone, the good and the bad. She knew me so well, she could always tell when I was telling the truth and when I was not. Despite me mistreating her early in life, she still found the heart to be friends with me when I became an adult. She was the one person that forgave me over anything. Emelia had the greatest impact on my life and will continue to do so. If I had only but one goal in my life, it would be to become the kind of person Emelia always wanted me to be. Emelia was the greatest teacher I ever had. I'm a better person for knowing Emelia.

Cute, innocent, quiet, energetic, humble, private, and kind, Emelia had a way of bringing together members of her family. Emelia proved that it doesn't matter how big you are, it's the size of the role you play in someone's life that matters. Emelia played a very large role in the lives of my grandpa, grandma, mom and I. She played the biggest and most beloved role in the life of my mother and me. Besides being the favorite child of her mother and grandparents, she once called her mom her best friend and was my most beloved friend. Emelia gave me twenty four and a half years of her life, the best years of my life, the best present I've ever gotten from anyone. Even if we did absolutely nothing with each other that day, each day with Emelia in my life was a joy, a gift. The best present that Emelia gave me each day was her love, her waking up and being there in my life, the best presents I've gotten ever. The best gifts Emelia left behind for me, the best presents I've ever been left with, are all these wonderful memories. When I think about the person who knew me best, the person who most balanced me and completed my life, I think of Emelia. Emelia was my best friend, the best friend I've ever had or could've ever asked for. While my time with her was very brief, I don't regret ever meeting her and getting to know her; I regret not having the opportunity and privilege to have spent more time with her. Having a sister, having Emelia in my life, was the best thing that ever happened to me. Emelia was the most ideal sibling, best friend, playmate, confidante, most consistent and reliable companion, advisor, and comforter. When I think of the best person I ever knew, I think of Emelia. I love you Emelia.

the brother of Emelia