Chinese American Coalition for Compassionate Care (CACCC) held its first “Saying Goodbye with Love” Essay Contest to honor the National Healthcare Decisions Day (April 16) and to increase community awareness of the importance of advance care planning and to provide meaningful ways to say goodbye with love to their family and loved ones with no regrets. Entries were critically evaluated by several renowned Chinese and English writers, scholars, and newspaper editors over several days, and the winners of the contest were announced on May 15th. There was one first prize, one special prize, two honorable mentions, and five masterpieces. There were five judges for the contest:
- Shyh Yaw Chen: Editor-in-Chief, World Journal
- Lisa Krieger: Award-winning reporter and columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, author of The Cost of Dying series
- Teresa Cheng: Renowned U.S.-based Chinese writer
- Lily Hsueh: Renowned U.S.-based Chinese writer
- Sandy Chen Stokes: Founder and Board Chair of CACCC
Congratulations to all the winners. We hope that this essay contest will encourage the public to discuss life and death issues, how to maintain dignity at the end of life, to emphasize and plan for early care, to explore their own attitudes toward life, and to prepare for the ways to say goodbye to their loved ones.
The list of winning entries is as follows. Click the essay titles in the table below to read the corresponding essay.
| Prize | Name | City,State | Essay Title | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Prize | Dawn M. Gross, MD., Ph.D. | San Francisco, CA | As You Wish | $300 |
| First Runner Up | Masako Koko Huang | San Gabriel, CA | Love, Honor and Tough Goodbyes | $200 |
| Second Runner Up | Felicia Tan | Alhambra, CA | If We Knew What We Know Now | $100 |
| Second Runner Up | Jeanne Wun | San Jose, CA | Do You Know How Much I Love You? | $100 |
| Honorable Mention | Michael Bond | Burbank, CA | Please Let Me Go | $50 |
| Honorable Mention | Brenda Chen, 陳愛華 | Arcadia, CA | 淡水餘暉在我心 | $50 |
| Honorable Mention | Lusha Lee, 李靜誼 | Walnut, CA | 放手，陪媽媽走最後一程 | $50 |
| Honorable Mention | Gloria Hsu | Houston, TX | 愛的道別 | $50 |
| Honorable Mention | Nancy Cullifer | Folsom, CA | I First Met Them | $50 |