life.

for some people. life is the start of a great adventure opening the door to a great city, one of many to come. for others, it has brought them to yet another milestone, making marks on their journey that they may or may not want. and for my grandma, life has just been redefined.  :')

i think this is the least i can do for popo. a very short eulogy which i can now say and she can now understand; a moment to spend in remembrance of this strong, faithful old lady who loved me beyond the language barriers we had. my earliest memories were that of saturdays spent at the quaint old semi-d in sembawang. given that she was 99 this year and i'm 22, she was already pretty old. i never realised how old that age was until recently. it never kept her down - she was so healthy! at 80+, she'd be pottering around in the garden or the kitchen until my mom and i (and subsequently, my brother) came. then, she'd be a flurry of activity, getting up to fuss over us. she'd always argue with my mom about me- i.e. whether i'm a good girl or bad and whether i could be fed! she did that weekly without fail, such that now the few words i know in hainanese are "very good", "very bad", "eat", and "thank you". i wish i knew more, and before i gave in to the language barrier, i used to get my mom to translate for me.  

she'd make the best ever hainanese dishes ever - i still dont know what they're called. some sort of salted fish with pork, mother hen (a really old chicken that is steamed in a special way),vegetables from the garden and porridge with brovil. my cousins are all brovil-eaters because they grew up in my grandma's house. oh. and not to forget, avocado milkshake with gula melaka. best. drink. ever! & this was waaay before avocado milkshake was even heard of in singapore! 

but popo had a great faith that was simple and trusting. everyday at 3.55pm, she'd get up from her seat and carefully arrange the shoes outside the door, rearrange everything as if a guest was coming, open the gate and at 4pm, she'd pray to literally invite Jesus in. i always thought it was a cute gesture, but as she got older and started using a walker (which she hated btw), she kept doing it without fail. even when she became too weak to walk in the past few years, she'd get my mom to do it on weekends, and somehow, by herself on wkdays. 

i really regret the language barrier. but i'm happy she's not suffering anymore, and that, in fact, she's up there exploring her new life with a perfect body. it was very unsettling to visit her over the last 2 years, she kept getting sick, and recovering in an almost sadistic cycle. but all's well with her now. & one day i'll be able to talk to her like i've always wanted to.