My Maternal Grandmother

My maternal grandmother is my most adored grandparent. She was a Cantonese and was my soul mate when I was a kid. She was also my nanny who took care of me when my mother went to work. I have developed love and respect for her for what she had done for me.

She was born in Guangzhou in 1921. She lived there with her parents and two elder sisters until she wad thirteen years old. She then migrated to Singapore with her family and lived in Chinatown. Her father stayed in China to continue working as a sailor. Once in awhile, he sailed to Singapore to visit my grandmother.

Being a pretty lady, my grandmother was married to a dashing guy ten years older than her when she was just eighteen. After a couple of years, World War Two broke out in Singapore. Life was very hard for her. My maternal grandfather worked as an electrician and he was the only financial support of the family. My grandmother went to the Singapore River to pick up some vegetables that were being thrown away for eating. It was extremely difficult to find food during the Japanese Occupation as many food were taken away by the Japanese. My grandmother had to resort to eating leftovers. Thus, she suffered malnutrition.

After World War II, my grandmother gave birth to eight children-five boys and three girls. One of her daughters contracted a fatal illness, which was incurable and passed away when she was just a baby. At that moment, my grandmother was very dejected and had no appetite to eat for a few days. It could be seen that children matter a lot to their parents. I really feel sorry for her. She then raised the other seven kids up with love and care and one of them turned out to be my lovable mother.

Eventually, her children grew up and had families, we often went to her house during Chinese New Year to have a reunion. This brought warmth to her home. She was delighted to see that our big family is intact and has good relationships with one another. Her favourite hobby was watching television, playing mahjong and chatting with her friends at the Old Folks Club.

Then, in 2003, she passed away at night. I was very glum at that time. She was dead before I had a chance to repay her kindness; this saddened me the most. When she passed away, I regretted for not going to the hospital to visit her. I was depressed over her death, but she was already eighty plus and was considered long-lived. I should not demand that she should live longer because of me. My mother had comforted me by saying that my grandmother had rested peacefully as she had no worries and had lived blissfully when she was alive. This helped to ease my pain and helped to life up my mood.

I still love my grandmother although she passed away a few years ago. Although she is dead, she still lives in my heart.

She gave me showers of love when I was young and told me a lot of stories regarding World War Two. If I had a wish, I will wish for my grandmother to have the ability to live forever.

I love my grandmother.