In Memoriam (part 2)

My maternal grandmother, whom I called Popo but was Ah Tai to my children, was the best person in the world... according to my husband.. She was indeed a great person.. As far as I know, she was brought up by an aunt.. and in her days, girls were taught the basics of servitude... if the girl was fortunate, she gets married and she would serve her husband and children.. if she was less fortunate she would be a servant in a rich household and there she would attend to everyone.. My Grandma was fortunate to be married to Grandpa who could afford whatever she wanted.. But Grandma was a modest woman who was satisfied with having a roof over her head, enough to eat and decent clothes to wear..
I have only seen her in Chinese samfu, a blouse that's like a shortened cheongsam paired with black trousers. I think she ever wore a Qibao once.. not too sure of that though.. when she ironed her clothes, they were always folded in the same manner such that they were all the same size, whether it's the trousers or the blouse, and they fit exactly into the drawer..
People have claimed that their floor is clean enough to eat-off of; but Grandma's toilet floor is really that clean... Everyday she would wash the floor scrubbing it with soap, then washing it off with lots of water, then mopping it dry with a cloth... it literally sparkled.. The bathroom floor wasn't so clean.. she doesn't mop it dry because someone would use it and it'd get wet, so no point drying it out.. The kitchen floor wasn't as clean either.. she doesn't scrub this everyday, just mop.. There was always the twice a year routine of washing the whole house... during school holidays when a whole bunch of us grandchildren stayed over.. All of us had to pitch in... take out all the furniture into the garden.. scrub the floor of the whole house, kitchen included, then mop dry.. This was something we kids would do for Grandma.
Grandma endeared herself to everyone, friends of her children, neighbours, and also to my husband who simply loved her assam fish.. And so it happened one day... my daughter was sick and after a visit to the doctor, we went to my mother's house but daughter was throwing up food and medicine so we went back to the doctor again.. Just as we left, Grandma arrived at mother's house and was upset that she missed seeing her latest greatgrandchild.. That evening we got the call from Auntie Nene that Grandma collapsed in the bathroom.. they sent her to the hospital where the doctors told us she had a massive stroke and would not survive... My uncle decided to bring her home where she died a few days later..
At this time I was pregnant with my second child and since I have a young daughter to care for, I was practically left out of all the funeral proceedings.. My husband always boast of his part in keeping the candles burning, saying he talked to Grandma and asked her to let the candles burn... It seemed that when others tried to light the candles, they just keep toppling over... a sign??
As for the funeral day, everything went on okay and there was a lot of tears and wailing when the coffin went into the pyre.. I don't think there was anything out of the ordinary but there were a lot of sadness and all those who were there loved her a lot.

After Grandma's death, there were two more that followed although I'm not quite sure of the dates.. One was Uncle Boon, mother's youngest brother and the other was Uncle Charlie, Auntie Nene's husband.. Uncle Boon was a divorcee when he died in his girlfriend's house.. Having only his two young kids to do the rites, the wake was held at Singapore Casket to make things simple.. They performed the Christian (Roman Catholic) service for him and the funeral was simple.. Uncle Boon was known as Uncle Magic to my daughters and their cousins.. he does simple magic tricks whenever there was a gathering.. birthdays, Chinese New Year...
Uncle Charlie died in Perth, Australia and most of us in Singapore couldn't attend the funeral.. I knew Uncle Charlie well, having spent six months in Perth living with Auntie Nene and him.. They didn't have a child then.. I loved his cooking and I liked the way he would sneak off with the pineapple tarts I made because Auntie Nene would scold him for eating so much of it.. They later had a son.. known affectionately (to my daughters) as Uncle Bob ..
There were more deaths in the family but that will have to wait.... it's too depressing...

QUE SERA SERA.....