Walking down the memory lane
This was a story told by my mom about the life of my grandmother.She was actually adopted from China and 'sold' to a Malaysian
parents. So grandma was the youngest with 2 sisters above her.
In those days, life was hard. For a woman without an education background, she had to wake up in the wee hours of morning to do rubber tapping in the forest. She met and married her first husband ( uh my step- grandfather) with a son. When the Japanese invaded Malaya, my step grandfather and a few other patriotic sons decided to get into the deep forest and planned on the fights against Japs. Days and months went by, my grandma was broken hearted and concluded that her husband was probably killed by the Japs. Years went by, she continued to work effortlessly to raise her son up. She then met her second husband my grandfather) at the rubber plantation and soon got married. My two uncles and mom were born then. It was hard for my first uncle to learn to get along with the rest of family. Perhaps in a child's mind, he was probably feeling that someone has taken his mom away from him.
To my surprise, remarriage was something acceptable in those days. Being an Asian, we are often guarded by our moral values and having traditional mindset like our forefathers do. Who knows some others may have looked down on my grandma or subjected her as a husband curser. I can imagine it must be hard on her.
Right now in her 80s, she is happily living in her kampong house and laughing at every bit of life. Eating whatever she wants even though she is a Type 2 diabetic (which was diagnosed few years ago only). She said she is too old for diet restriction and would rather eat without any regrets.
4 comments:
Walio,
Your family tree very complicated leh.
But it sounds like stuff for a good novel. How about the title "A Grandmother's Tale?" Hee Hee.
"Eating whatever she wants even though she is a Type 2 diabetic (which was diagnosed few years ago only). She said she is too old for diet restriction and would rather eat without any regrets."
Reminds me of a stupid ortho specialist who told me to become a vegetarian because my uric acid is high. I told him to gimme the uric acid reducing medication so I can eat a whole sheep if I wanted to. When we are senior citizens, our time is limited and quality of life should not be compromised. The stupid ortho specialist happened to be quite elderly too. It is likely that he is a vegetarian. Good luck to him! If he don't die of gout, he'll probably fall victim to something else!
Hee Hee!
I like your grandma's attitude. Life is too short to worry about such things. Live life and be happy. :D
UB: Sometimes I wonder how senior are u ;p Where got complicated on my entry. Think you are just experiencing some difficulty in catching up that's all.
DDU: Can't wait to have our very own sushi platter! let's tuck in!
hey flatfeet thatis a cool story. I thought there might be a twist ... like suddenly she found out her first husband is still alive! Or something like that... anyway, Glad she is still alive and healthy. My grandma at the moment is sadly the same age but in the lying around all day, no energy even to eat state :~( so sad to see her deteriate to this state, when I go back she doesn't even recognise me anymore, or thinks I am still a small kid, forgetting I am already graduatedand married. *sigh*
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