Favorite people #1
Hopefully, this will evolve into a theme that I revisit in future posts.
I want to tell you about one of my favorite people- my grandma, my pau-pau. She lived through the Japanses invasion of China, a devasting economic depression, the Cultural Revolution (and all the requisite institutional, social, personal and financial upheavals that came with it), my grandfather's various adulterous affairs, the move to a new country that spoke a really bizarre language (English), all the while learning how to grow up, raise a family, grow old. She was a beautiful painter, an avid learner, a superb gardener, and an intrepid explorer. For someone who knew very little English (her vocabulary consisted of hello, goodbye, how much, thank you and good luck), she knew more about the bus system in NYC than I did. There is a dish that she invented that I just love. She basically shreds a boiled chicken and seasons it with ginger salt. She calls this her version of salt-baked chicken. I have yet to figure out the connection between the two. i learned from her that it really doesn't matter what other people think, that social conventions don't have to matter that much, that if you learn something, they can never take that away from you and you should do something because it is interesting and fun.
She is pretty old these days. Or at least her body and her mind really shows it. I used to cry a lot thinking about loosing her. I'd miss her a lot. In a way, she is sort of gone already. I don't think she remembers me anymore. What does it means to have a relationship with some who doesn't know me? I hung out with her two weekends ago- she seemed to enjoy the social interaction. My dad asked me if she remembered who I was. I told him I didn't ask and I really don't care. My guess is that she doesn't but I didn't see what was the need to ask her. It would cause me pain and probably her some embarassment and pain about being senile and old. I still love her a lot.
Oh, this ended up being a bit sadder than I expected. Maybe future posts in this theme won't have to carry this sad ending with it.
I want to tell you about one of my favorite people- my grandma, my pau-pau. She lived through the Japanses invasion of China, a devasting economic depression, the Cultural Revolution (and all the requisite institutional, social, personal and financial upheavals that came with it), my grandfather's various adulterous affairs, the move to a new country that spoke a really bizarre language (English), all the while learning how to grow up, raise a family, grow old. She was a beautiful painter, an avid learner, a superb gardener, and an intrepid explorer. For someone who knew very little English (her vocabulary consisted of hello, goodbye, how much, thank you and good luck), she knew more about the bus system in NYC than I did. There is a dish that she invented that I just love. She basically shreds a boiled chicken and seasons it with ginger salt. She calls this her version of salt-baked chicken. I have yet to figure out the connection between the two. i learned from her that it really doesn't matter what other people think, that social conventions don't have to matter that much, that if you learn something, they can never take that away from you and you should do something because it is interesting and fun.
She is pretty old these days. Or at least her body and her mind really shows it. I used to cry a lot thinking about loosing her. I'd miss her a lot. In a way, she is sort of gone already. I don't think she remembers me anymore. What does it means to have a relationship with some who doesn't know me? I hung out with her two weekends ago- she seemed to enjoy the social interaction. My dad asked me if she remembered who I was. I told him I didn't ask and I really don't care. My guess is that she doesn't but I didn't see what was the need to ask her. It would cause me pain and probably her some embarassment and pain about being senile and old. I still love her a lot.
Oh, this ended up being a bit sadder than I expected. Maybe future posts in this theme won't have to carry this sad ending with it.
posted by Matty Lau at
9:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home