Reincarnation

I asked my mother about the neighbor. She wasn't too surprised I didn't remember him. He lives about four houses down the street.

I think I may have previously mentioned my mother's Buddhist beliefs, back when I was exploring Christianity during my freshman year while my mother became more invested with Buddhism. Though I only went to temple when I visited relatives in Taiwan (averaging to about once every five years), I've grown up with frequent exposure to the idea of reincarnation. Whenever I see a dead animal, I automatically say the prayer that was taught to me when I was young.

My mother thinks it was fate. The neighbor who came this morning is a Buddhist who volunteers with a group that cares for cancer patients nearing the end of life. We hadn't been expecting him -- in fact, until today he hadn't dropped by our house in about ten years. Moreover, he came exactly at the moment when we had started digging the grave. While I was inside the house, he gave the prayer for Leonardo that they usually say to send off the dead. That coincidence, combined with the fact that we found Leonardo at a location so close to our front door -- which was so atypical of him to do -- strengthens my mother's belief that this was fate.

My mother says that Leonardo "served his time" as a turtle. That's how she likes to think of it. Life as a turtle is difficult, she says. She prays that he will be reincarnated into a better life.