The Last of the Silent Generation
Every time when the Chinese New Year fanfare rolls around the corner, I’m always reminded of my grandmother. Not my maternal grandma, my paternal one. My maternal grandma was a chain-smoking and swearing woman, I’ve talked about her before. If anyone would have met her, they would know which of her traits i inherited.
Nope, the lunar new year brings to mind my paternal grandmother, the late matriarch of the clan. She passed on about when I was in college. My whole experience of Chinese New Year was defined by my stays with her in the old house, along with the clan during the first 3 days of celebrations.
There are a lot of things i remember about her, but as the years go by, they become blurrer and more distant. I think i should write them down as i recall them, lest i forget.
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When Chinese New Year came, all the relatives came to see her on the second day. First day was always spent with close family only, the following day was for important relatives.
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She disliked girls. She had three daughters-in-law and two granddaughters, apparently she didn’t think much about them (I was told), but she liked boys. Unfortunately, before me she already had 4 other grandsons, so she pretty much didn’t bother too much about me… c’est la vie…
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The always wore a nice wristwatch with a silver strap. Unfortunately, it was only for show, she couldn’t see anything on it. In her old age, sometimes i doubt she could even see the watch…
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She always wore a jade bracelet. It made a clacking noise whenever it touched the wooden table, especially when was cleaning beansprouts (taugeh).
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Sometimes, in the afternoons, she would make me a bowl of hot Maggi mee, when I asked for it. But not after some almost imaudible caustic mumblings / mutterings from her.
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One day, she left this beautiful new set of bedsheets on the bus. If I remember it correctly, she had taken it back to the shop to change it to another colour…
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She wore socks to sleep.
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Early one morning, she couldn’t get out of bed. And in a matter of days after that, she had passed on. And then, the last of the 4 grandparents of mine were gone and the silent generation had come to and end. During the funeral, I was so tired I fell on to the mattress and slept immediately.
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Many years after her passing, i had the opportunity to meet one of her brothers for the first time. After such a long time, my ancient dialect was rusty, but he was affable (plus he could also speak English). But one look, i could recognize the eyes…
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The old house lies is dust now, over grown in weeds. The 7 grandchildren are all over the world now. I wonder if anyone of the other six remember them as i did. I seriously doubt it.
Technorati Tags: Chinese New Year, grandmother
January 19th, 2006 at 8:15 am
It’s good that you do remember though.
January 19th, 2006 at 11:50 am
inaudible caustic mumblings
She was prolly telling you that all that MSG will cause chemicals imbalance in your brain and turn you into a blogger in future.
January 19th, 2006 at 2:05 pm
My mom wears socks to sleep.
What dialect do you speak again?
January 20th, 2006 at 8:30 am
i miss goin back to hometown as a small kid; visitin great grandma, chompin on raw sugar cane, rode on grandma’s motorbike, comprehending the old, rustic ways of the kampung..
now it has been different =)
January 21st, 2006 at 6:58 am
ken - “the language of the Gods…”