Report from Edwin Law (HKWY75) after visiting Father Farren with Poon Sek Kwong:
"Fr Farren is staying in a nursing home specially built for Jesuits in a Jesuit community in Dublin about 20 minutes south of the city center (Trinity College). We took a taxi which only costs about 12 euros for 4 people. Taxi in Ireland charges 1 euro per extra head.
Upon arrival, there were 2 buildings and both were locked. I had to call the front desk to open the door for us. I caught a glimpse of someone peeking out a window and it turned to be Fr Farren. In fact when the door was opened, he was there with his cane to greet us. He was clearly anticipating our arrival which was postponed from 2:00pm to 3:30pm. We arrived at 3:15pm. He must have been looking out his window since 2:00pm like a father waiting for his sons to come home to visit.
After introducing our respective spouses, Fr Farren led us to his room which was 2 doors to the right of the front door. He was walking with a cane unassisted with pride. He is 92, looking remarkably healthy for his age.
Fr Farren lived in a single room with a private bathroom. The building was quite new and in a beautiful setting with grass lawn on both the front and
the side.
I presented a gift of mooncakes I bought in the states Mid Autumn Festival, as well as two Wah Yan cups from Gavin Lam (HKWY). We starting chatting, first about other old boys who had visited him recently. In the middle of our conversation, there was a phone call from an old boy, Dr. Simon Au (WYK 81) from HK. Fr Farren talked to Simon for a little while and tried to end the conversation early because we were there.
Stone started showing our F4A1 class photo to Fr Farren on his phone while I tried to get my Lenovo pad with a larger screen. I started showing him more pictures of more recent vintage starting from the 2000 International Conference in Los Angeles with a picture of him and Stone, Simon Chan and Richard Lau. I did not think he had clear recollection of any of us.
He had a nice collection of memorabilia from old boys. He was especially proud of a painting (a hand sketch) of an old boy named Cloris after a tour in London. He also had a folder with photos and writing from WYK class of 63. He clearly cherished all these gifts from old boys.
I showed him the letter from Timothy Yip. He read ¾ of it. It was a long letter. Although he did not need glass after an eye surgery a couple of years back, it was difficult for him to read from a screen. He did not have a computer and did not use email. The best way to communicate with him is the good old postal mail.
To write to Fr Farren, mail to
Cherryfield Lodge
Milltown Park
Ranelagh
Dublin 6
You can also google Cherryfield Lodge for more info.
Back to the visit. At around 4pm, a nurse knocked at the door and asked if Fr Farren would have his afternoon tea with us in his room or in the lounge. He ordered
5 sets to be served in his room. After waiting for 10 minutes or so, Fr Farren decided to go outside to look for his tea for his guests, always the gentleman trying to do the best for his guests. We then had tea in the lounge. It was surprisingly good High Tea. We continued to chat about his health. He didn’t seem to care. He was ready to be reunited with God anytime because his work was done. There were 2 doctors who checked up on all the residents once a week. He was diagnosed with cancer, but he couldn’t even tell what kind of cancer.
Fr Farren was extremely alert for his age. He remembered tidbits of life at Wah Yan with great clarity. He remember Mrs Lee (Ho Ma) complaining to him that our English grammar was subpar. He remembered Mo Po outside the music room as he walked by, asking what had happened to the class which was quietly sitting inside without any response to “What do you think?”
It was time to leave and I asked Vicky to call a taxi. She could not find anybody and was roaming around. Being the gracious host, Fr Farren stood up and started walking towards her to help her find someone to help despite our plea to him to stay put.
It was time to say goodbye, he insisted on walking us out to the taxi. He waved us goodbye. I could not look back as I was sure Fr Farren would be staring and wondering when the next visitor would come to see him."
Note 1: Click the image to view more photos on the visit.
Note 2: Click here to view another album on visiting Father Farren.
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