2010年11月的化工年会(AICHE) 最后一次见到王鹏
那年的会议是在犹他州的盐湖城举行，是我多年离开AICHE后的一次回归。好高兴又可与老同学相聚。那一年我们班(化23 )陶凌，林晓霞，王鹏和我有参加。大家商量着吃个饭好好叙个旧。结果每个人会议日程的安排不同，没法同时凑在一起。结果只好分开吃。王鹏和我先吃的饭，会议中心附近的餐馆基本都是西餐店，有些兴趣缺缺，王鹏推荐了一家， 就在马路对过，叫黄氏小馆 (Wong’s Asian Bistro)。一个大大的汉字招牌“黄”，看起来分外亲切，走进去却觉得有些异样，西式的装潢，西式的用具，招待都是西人。好在饭菜尽管不是地道的中餐或泰餐，味道还不错。氛围也很好。言谈尽欢。第二第三天王鹏和陶凌，王鹏和林晓霞又分别吃了饭。姐妹们闲聊时发现他们每次去的竟都是那一家店。好笑的是我介绍了一个朋友给王鹏。会议最后那天遇到那个朋友，告知他们一起吃了饭，赫然又是那家黄氏小馆。会议一共就那么几天，王鹏在那里吃了那么多顿，看样子他是真把那里当作清华饭堂了。
2011 年8月，最后一次与王鹏通话。我们两家都刚刚添了小宝宝。话题自然都是围绕着宝宝。宝宝的睡，宝宝的哭，..., 王鹏的话语里充溢着兴奋。Carolyn, 你有知道爸爸多么喜欢你么？
In Tsinghua, I was a roommate of Luo Ran, Wang Peng’s wife. In those days girls’ dormitories were separated from those of the boys, normally guarded by door-women who were a little too strict. Four girls shared one room, two bunk beds facing each other.
I was talking to another roommate last night on Skype. We do not even remember when it started. We just recall that at the very beginning, probably during our junior year, Peng came several times accompanying his classmate who was a hometown friend of Ran, then he started to stop by on himself, and before we knew it, they two were going out. Now I think about it, it took a lot of courage for a young boy, with the typical Tsinghua shyness, to go through that a-little-too-strict door-woman, walk pass all the other girls on the way, and wait for his girlfriend in front of the other three roommates who were obviously smirking. They were a cute couple from the very beginning.
Peng in my memory was always a bit shy. He never talked much, always smiled a lot, and often stood by the door of our dormitory, waiting for Ran patiently. In those days it was Tsinghua culture that the boy friend helped with the laborious dormitory chores. So Peng after his classes would sometimes carry hot water from the boiler room to our dorm. Ran always walked by his side on those boiler room trips. They kept this habit throughout our senior and master years.
We all went different directions after graduation. About ten years later I found myself moving to the same small town in New Jersey, two blocks away from Luo Ran and Wang Peng. From what I could tell, they did not change much. Peng was still a bit shy, not talking much in front of Ran’s friends, and always smiling a lot.
Soon afterwards Peng located a job as Assistant Professor with URI. I still remember that Ran called me to share this good news. She sounded very excited. Apparently that was Peng’s dream job. Ran soon resigned from her position and moved to work in Connecticut to be close to Peng. She gave up a very promising career in New York but she prioritized being together and they were planning to have a baby. Within a year I heard the good news that Luo Ran was expecting.
The last time I saw Wang Peng was several months before Carolyn’s birth. Peng stopped by on his way to a New Jersey meeting. He smiled a lot, and asked a lot of silly questions like every new daddy-to-be. I could totally tell that he was among the happiest person on earth – seeing great momentum on his dream job, and expecting a beautiful girl whom he could hold, cherish, and spoil in the rest of his life, with the woman he has always been in love for the past 15 years.
I still find it hard to believe that Peng’s happy episode in life just suddenly ends this way. When I come to Luo Ran after hearing this shocking news, the first thing I notice is the toy next to Carolyn’s crib - I put it in Peng’s hands a year ago for Carolyn. Their apartment still has the touch of Wang Peng – computer, books, pictures, as if he is still around. Carolyn is so little, but definitely a daddy’s girl already – when Luo Ran gathers Peng’s pictures for scanning, Carolyn gets so anxious and refuses to keep quiet until she grabs a photo of daddy.
Ran decided to bury Peng in a cemetery near URI. “I guess he likes the place because he plans to get his tenure there,” Ran said. For Peng’s memorial website Ran picked the photo he submitted for his faculty profile page. “I guess he likes it because he picked it” Ran said. She can only guess. They have never talked about topics such as cemetery choice. In their mind there isn’t even a slightest possibility that such a tragedy would ever happen to them, a life so young, a family so new, and a dream so fresh.
From time to time in those heart-breaking occasions I just cannot help wondering how Luo Ran could survive the cruelty of the cold fact that Peng is gone forever while keep functioning. At cremation she cuts off some of her own hair to put into Peng’s coffin, but all she is allowed to see is a white blanket covering the person whom she wants to hold tight but is not able to even hold hands with. She has to sign off for the staff to push her love into the cremation and feels the heat that turns everything into ash. At the funeral home the director gave her a small zip bag with the keys, credit cards, and miscellaneous receipts they took from Peng’s pocket after the accident, blood still on some of the paper, but she has to wipe off her tears and talk about the selection of urn, tomb stone, guest book, and flowers. I could only say that Ran is much stronger than I could ever imagine, and I think the reason Luo Ran is holding up strong is Carolyn and all the support she receives from everybody.
I have known Wang Peng for many years, as a schoolmate, the boyfriend and husband of Luo Ran, and then the father of Carolyn. I don’t know his aspiration for career, but I know for sure that his aspiration for life is to raise Carolyn to become a kind and smart person like his father, maybe a bit shy too. That aspiration I have no doubt that Luo Ran will fulfill for him. For that exact reason, I believe that he will rest in peace, smiling as always.
我们夫妻俩是一年内先后认识王老师的，王老师是一位和蔼可亲的人，还记得我刚去NJIT的时候，刚开始读Ph.D, 有很多东西都不是很懂，他都会很耐心的教我，他给我的感觉就像一个大哥哥一样，不论是从学术还是做人上，他都给了我很大的帮助。还记得我们当时接了个Picatinny 的项目，那段时间我们两个会经常一起去picatinny做报告，中午回来在祥福吃面，想想真的好幸福。
王老师对我们夫妻两个相当照顾，还记得当时我们夫妻两个要申请学校的时候，想让王老师写推荐信，他很爽快地答应了，而且完成得很快，丝毫没有耽误我们的申请时间。当我转到哥大读书的时候，我能感觉出来王老师是打心眼儿里为我高兴，他很热情地为我引见一些他熟悉的哥大老师，而且还不停的嘱咐说进了哥大以后要如何做事，注意什么之类的。
当王老师去了罗得岛大学之后，我们还是有电话往来的，我们还经常会探讨一些学术，聊一些家常之类的。记得最后一次通电话是在几个月以前，他很兴奋的告诉我们他有了女儿，我们当时真的是为他高兴，但是竟没想到，那次是最后一次听到王老师的声音了。。。
我们感到非常幸运能遇到这样一位好老师，好朋友。王老师，您没有离开我们，我们知道您在天堂也是可以看到你的家人和我们这些朋友的，也会为我们祝福的，祝您在天堂也可以过得好！
---林彬，晓薇
惊闻噩耗，悲痛，惋惜，非言语可以表达。依旧生动鲜活的在我的记忆中，可人却已不和我们在一起。想写些什么来纪念我这位挚友，却又不知从何说起。他不曾睡在我的上铺，我们甚至不曾同宿舍，可我耳边却似乎忽然响起那首老歌，睡在我上铺的兄弟。
和王鹏相识，已有十几年了。从最初的彼此拘束，到后来亲热地称呼鹏仔，开心地开彼此的玩笑。其间历历，恍如昨日。
最早认识当然是从清华园开始，交往也多是在学业切磋中进行。我们学号相近，因此常被分在同一组做实验等，交集很多。鹏仔是个很有上进心的人，无论课后，还是考前，总喜欢和我探讨些问题。有时，连我都有些嫌他过于追求完美。偶尔以“这些东西学了也没什么用，考试肯定不会考“之类搪塞。如今想来，不觉汗颜。正是他那种对细枝末节也穷追不舍的精神，无形中也在影响着我，使我对自己更加严格要求。
后来，我读硕，他读博，又不在同一个实验室。离得远了，我又不是一个喜欢窜门的人，因此联系少了。偶尔碰到，闲聊几句。他仍给我一种积极向上的感觉，在积极地为未来打算。
再后来，我们都相继出国。可我在波士顿，他在纽约，除电子邮件和电话外，彼此也没什么特别多交往。其间，我来过一次纽约，那也是我第一次见骆然。他们带我游了哥大。那时，真是觉得书生意气，好像一切未来，命运都在自己掌握之中。
再相见是在2003年宗寅峰，夏芳麻州家中。我记得，他那次和康慨同行，同聚的还有林晓霞夫妇。我们在一起聊了很久。又看了哈利波特和千与千寻。谈到其中的环保创意，都不是我们曾想到的，依然让我觉得鹏仔是个有独立见解，善于思考的人。
再后来，鹏仔回国工作，又再回美。他在新泽西工作，我在纽约，我们才又有机会在一起挫饭。他给我讲了许多国内的见闻。我觉得，他虽然依然那么健谈，可性格却似乎沉静了许多。我们都已到中年，他们也在憧憬着要小孩。
谁知那次见面竟是永诀。后来我的手机里还收到他一个留言，竟是静音，我还暗笑，一定是不小心碰倒了手机按键，打个我了。什么时候，我该打回去，笑话他一番。如今，这么简单的事，竟不可得。
鹏仔是个热爱生活的人。他会是个好丈夫，好父亲。可是，想到他竟听不到女儿开口叫爸爸，而女儿也再得不到父亲的拥抱，我心底里那块最柔软的地方就被触动，眼眶不竟湿润。
有人说，生命并不会真的消失。宇宙从不浪费任何东西，他们只不过转换了存在的形式。我想，鹏仔终会活在那些关心，爱护他
的人心中，而他也许正从天国俯瞰着我们，护佑着他的家人。我们这些朋友，同窗会照顾好你的妻女，亦会帮助你的女儿记得自己的父亲。
鹏仔，走好。
- 卫东
