GRANDPARENT

Everyone has grandparents just like you and I. But everyone has their own kind of grandparents. Some people may not have seen them or have heard them. So I am fortunate to still have all my grandparents with me. I would like to take this opportunity to spend more quality time with them to know them better.

My maternal grandmother is 59 this year. She is still pink in health despite some aches and pains around her body. My grandmother takes care of her grandchildren everyday whjile their parents go to work. She does it without complaints and does it willingly. My grandmother sacrifices herself for the sake of her grandchildren as she does not have time to spend with her friends, except during the weekends while she does not need to babysit her grandchildren. My grandmother grew up in a very poor family. My great-grandmother did not have the money to raise her kids and had no choice but to give my grandmother away. She recalled that she had many other siblings who were given away too. After hearing og her plight, I realized how lucky I was to have a loving and caring family. My grandmother did not have much education too as people in the past did not have enough money to send their kids to school. She does not know how to speak English. So since young, I was also taken care of by her. I was then forced to speak the language I now hate most, Chinese, in order to communicate with her. I hate Chinese as it has so many characters to remember and the words are difficult to write.

My maternal grandfather is 62 this year. The time that I spent with him is the least. He works and after work, he does not go home. He stays at the coffee shop and chats with his friends. Only sometimes after school, I happen to see him there and we would just say a ‘hi and bye’. My grandfather hardly spends time with the family. But when I was young, he sometimes took care of me and played with me. I think that is because I am his first grandchild. My grandfather likes to gamble and smoke. My family has always been persuading him and tried to talk him out of smoking. With his stubborn character, he just refuses to listen. Though he does not spend time with us, I can tell that he loves us a lot. When he comes home, he does not mix around with us. I do not know why he just does not want to show his love for us in front of everyone. He shows us his love on the quiet side. Like sometimes, he would buy a pen or give me some money. He only gives it to me when I am alone, whenever my parents are not with me. At times, I really do pity him. He has a home which cares for him but he just does not want to enter it. I really hope that one day, he would finally accept what we have always been doing for him.

As for my paternal grandmother, she is 90 this year, she gave birth to 11 children. The people in the past got married at around the age of 15 and then gave birth to many children. My grandmother is very kind and has done many good deeds throughout her life. But, she has also gone through a lot of pain. She went through World War 2 and lost many close ones in the war. My grandmother struggled through the pain and finally overcame it. She dotes on all of her grandchildren and gives all of them money. She is not biased despite having 26 grandchildren. I love spending time with her as she talks to me and tells me about her stories from the past. There is one story I have a greatest impression of. Once, she tried to run away from home as she did not do well in her studies. She did not dare to go home. Her parents went searching for her as in the past; they did not have such great technology like phones to contact others. She told me this story one time when I did badly in my exams. I did not dare to go home and so went to her house. That is when she told me her experience. I was touched and thought over everything that she told me. I finally went home and told my parents the truth.

My paternal grandfather just passed on this June. He was 92 then. At that time, he was already very ill and sick. He did not know what was going on around him. My grandfather was a very quiet and shy man, but one thing we all can’t deny is that he was really smart and intelligent. While he was still fit and healthy, I was till a toddler. But I remembered clearly that he doted on me and always brought me out to play. He told me stories and read to me every night before going to bed. When my grandfather was young, he worked for My Lee Kuan Yew. He loved to travel around the world and learn about architecture. He lived in China and Japan for many years then finally came back to Singapore. He was also a very loving man! Wherever he went, he would bring my grandmother along. He took very good care of her too. I have learnt many things from him since I was young. For example, the patience he had, the love he showed, the intelligence that he had and a lot more. I really admire him and grateful that I was still able to see him and spend time with him while I was young. So now I hope that he is with his maker, he can live a happy life in heaven without any pain and difficulties.

As you can see, grandparents are actually very important and mean a lot to everyone. Sometimes they can be a little naggy, but think about it, all these nags are for your own good. They just want us to learn from their experiences and not repeat their mistakes. Grandparents can be so important to us that sometimes I feel that I can’t live without them. I just want to ask everyone out there, to cherish their grandparents as they really do not have much time left with us and in this world. Do not regret when they are gone and at that time when u regret and realize your mistake, it is too late. Appreciate and cherish your grandparents when they are still with you.