Drake大学教授David Skidmore在任东来重病期间给东来的信

黄安年受权发布  黄安年的博客/2013年5月11日发布

昨天傍晚收到任东来教授夫人吴耘老师发来JDrake大学教授David Skidmore在任东来重病期间给任东来和吴耘的信，现在受权发布。吴耘老师在信中写道:“黄老师，东来的朋友遍天下，能和所有人交朋友，惟有东来。David Skidmore 是Drake大学的教授，他和太太Charlene是我们夫妇的老友。在一起的时候，我们毫无拘束，两位太太开两位丈夫的玩笑，完全忘记了我们来自不同的文化。他俩极为相似，都爱说话，都喜欢微笑，都显年轻，都很单纯。Charlene曾用一个英文谚语比喻他们，"two peas in the same pod"。

四月初，David就联系东来，告知八月要来南京看望我们。起初，东来还能简短回信，而这封信，他已没有力气看了。于是，我把东来生病的消息告诉了他，他写来这封邮件，表达难以置信之情，字里行间透露出浓浓的兄弟情。    吴耘”

Dear Wu,

My God. I am sitting here speechless. I am so shocked and saddened by thisnews. On behalf of Charlene as well, our hearts go out to Donglai, Wendy, youand other family and friends impacted by this tragedy. I know you and Wendy arestrong individuals, but this is a heavy burden for anyone.

I don't know Donglai's exact condition. But, if possible, please convey to himmy deepest affection. I have really considered Donglai like a brother to me (Ihave only sisters). His hospitality to myself and my family during the year wespent in Nanjingwas quite moving. But the friendship we have sustained over the years since hasbeen very important to me, even though we saw one another in person only onoccasion. Donglai's intelligence, humor and kind heart are always apparent ineverything he does. And his pride in you and Wendy and devotion to his familyare other traits I have always admired. I always thought that Donglai and Ishared so many things in common, even in how we viewed the world, despite ourupbringing in very different cultures.

I really hope you can pass along these sentiments to Donglai. I also hope Iwill be able to see Donglai in August. In any case, I would like to see you andWendy (if she is there at that time). Would you mind sharing your own emailaddress so that we can keep in touch?

I wish the best for all of you in these extremely difficult circumstances.

With full heart,

David (and Charlene)

On Apr 22, 2013, at 7:53 PM, rendonglai wrote:

> Dear David,
>
> This is Wu Yun. I have very sad news. Donglai was diagnosed with lymphomalast July. His tumor spread quickly though he went through several rounds ofchemotherapy and radiation therapy. Yesterday I got another "rescuetreatment" notice from the hospital, which is usually to get the familymembers to prepare for the worst.
>
>
> Love,
>
> Wu Yun
>
>
> 发自我的 iPad
>
> 在 2013-4-22，1:10，David GSkidmore <david.skidmore@drake.edu>写道：
>
>>Donglai,
>>
>> My plans for travel to Chinaare shaping up a bit. I believe I mentioned previously that I will be teachinga two week course in Shanghai on The PoliticalEconomy of Water in China.I have not booked tickets yet, but I have to report in Shanghai for the program on August 6. So I amthinking about flying out a few days early so that I can visit you and Wu in Nanjing. Might also tryto make it to Guangzhou(I have a former Drake student working in the US Consulate there).
>>
>> If I visited in early August, would you guys be there? Also, I wouldlove to get together the Nanda faculty who have visited Drake over lunch. Wouldbe fun to compare experiences. But also we could discuss the future evolutionof the relationship between the two schools. Might want to invite faculty whoare interested in visiting Drake in the future.
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>> David

Dr. Ren Donglai
Professor of International Relations and History
The Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Nanjing University,Nanjing, China, 210093
-
210093
Tel: 25 8359 2838; Fax: 25 8330 1102

----- Forwarded Message -----
From:David G Skidmore <david.skidmore@drake.edu>
To: rendonglai <rendonglai@yahoo.com>
Cc: Charlene K Skidmore <charlene.skidmore@drake.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 9:20 AM
Subject: Re: August