The lost of our father Nhia Ying Yang

Our Dad was our Savior

" There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love."

- Washington Irving.

Our beloved father Nhia Ying Yang was called upon to be with our savior Jesus Christ on 10/5/22. For the past 31 years, our dad was our savior, he was the lifeline that connected all of us together, he was our hero, our light, and now a memory that will live in our hearts forever. Nhia Ying Yang was survived by his loving wife Tong Lee Yang, 8 children, and 14 grandkids.

Hello everyone, my name is Youa Yang, the youngest of 8 children of Nhia Ying. As our father passed away peacefully at age 57 from his 6th stroke, I wanted to share with the world his life story, the type of savior he was to our family, and distant memories that will live on within us as he watches over us.

      First of all, my father was a simple happy man, he enjoyed lots of activities such as singing old folk songs called "kwv Txhiaj" at Hmong New Year, fishing, hunting, carpentry, volunteering, and playing his 2-string violin. Growing up these were the things that I observed most about my dad that made him happy, other than working day and night to support us. Dad always enjoyed telling us stories about the motherland and engraved them in our heads to treat others how we would like to be treated. Dad had no evil bones in him, and I have passed this life lesson onto my kids as well to do good to others. Dad was our savior.

      Secondly, I remember my dad always being worried about my mom Tong and oldest sister Ia as they needed the most help out of everyone. Mom stood tall at only 4'6ft with a muscle condition that later took both her arms and now spread to her legs that makes her weak and vulnerable to be independent Ia was born with a disability that enabled her to speak, immobile, and will have seizures for the rest of her life. My sister Ia is now 37 years of age and my dad was the sole caretaker for them both before his health started to deteriorate and needed to be in a home. They all were suffering and it was up to the rest of us to take care of them as that's what family does. Dad was the glue that held everyone together, when we needed consultation on life dad was always a listening ear to give advice, dad was always the optimistic one, the one we all looked up to when it came to support and love. Now it is up to the rest of us to provide that support for our mom Tong and older sister Ia as our dad has passed the Paton to the next person in line to carry on his duties. Dad was our savior.

      My dads last breath was spent in a hospital room filled with equipment to help him breathe as his 6th stroke paralyzed his whole left side, damaged his brain, was intubated and had to be on a feeding tube. As the doctors assess my dad's condition, we were given two choices to determine our dad's fate...No child should have to decide their parent's fate or have to see their parent in agony and pain laying so lifelessly. After our meeting with the doctors, As we all ponder the 2 choices the doctors gave us, we were all suffering in our own way, dad was always there to give us advice, and support, and shine a light on any problems that we had and now it was our turn to make our own decisions without his guidance. I remember the cries from my other siblings asking dad to stay, getting stronger because we are not strong enough to make that kind of decision. I remember my mom cries, her words to my dad asking him to wake up and say something...anything to her and if he cared for all his kids, especially Ia. Mom cried her heart out on this day. We were all numb and wanted more time to decide as the 2-week timeframe they gave us was not enough time to spend with dad or decide...Actually, we didn't want to decide at all, we just wanted our simple, happy dad back but we knew the longer we hesitated and cried for him to return we still had to make the final decision. Dad was our savior.

      Decision day was the hardest day of our lives, as we all cried surrounding my dad the doctors took out the life support in hopes that dad would be able to breathe on his own. We all agreed to pick the choice that would give dad less amount of stress and suffering as he was already in so much pain. Mom cried and asked if dad was hungry when they took all equipment out of his mouth...dad just looked at mom and couldn't speak, our hearts broke but were hopeful this might be a sign of recovery. As the days pass by, my sisters and I sang songs to my dad as he looked around the room, we gripped and held his hands to let him know that he is not alone on this journey. I remember my older sister Chia that spent the night with dad promising my dad that he can rest easy now, it is our turn to watch over mom and Ia and to let go...2 hours after my sister Chia was relieved from the night shift, dad passed away peacefully surrounded by his two uncles.. I still ponder the thought that dad was holding on, waiting for one of us to promise him that we will take care of his duties from here on out.. Rest easy dad. Dad was our savior.

      My siblings and I started this Gofundme to assist with funds for the funeral, dad was an amazing, kind man that was selfless and dedicated his time to helping his community and family members. We understand that everyone in the world is hurting in their own way, but a small donation to help us give our dad a proper funeral will be so much appreciated as we navigate how to move on without dad. Even if you cannot donate, please help us share our dad's life story and spread our father's love all around in remembrance of him.

      Funeral services will be held on 10/30/22-10/31/22 8am-10pm at Gunderson Funeral and Cremation Care. Burial will be held at 11am at Highland Memory Gardens.

Thank you all for reading about our dad's life story and how he has impacted us to better ourselves and taught us how to love each other when dark times arise.