my gramps, part I

this post is dedicated to my grandpa, who has passed away peacefully on 1 october, 2013.

my grandpa on my father's side passed away when i was really young so the only grandpa that i grew up with was my mother's dad. 

as a kid he would teach us how to excel in chinese chess. at one point of my life i was quite good at it, with none of my friends believing that i could play chinese chess well because they deem a "banana" to have never played.  my gramps was a tailor, but boy he excel in maths. he's really good at playing with cards too, something that my dad didn't really like because he thinks it is bad influence for us.  

anyway gramps health has been deteriorating all this while. and sometimes you forget how long or when did all of this started. it was only when me and my brother got back from home and were suppose to collect my gramps remaining items from home to my uncles house that i saw his spectacles.  it occur to me that i haven't seen my gramps wearing spectacles for a long time. and there were 3 pairs of it, all clean from the usually oily residues from your face or hand prints, a clear sign that it hasn't been worn for a long time.

i can't remember when his eyesight was so bad wearing glasses can't help him read anymore.  gramps favorite past time is reading. he would devour all the articles in the chinese newspapers and reading through travelling books in the evening. he went through several operations to save his eye but the doctors couldn't make it better anymore. my gramps wasn't blind. it's just that he can't read small letters anymore. and you know how tiny those chinese characters are. initially we got him a hand held magnifier but then it was too tiresome and in the end my grandad gave up reading entirely.

his days was spent at my aunts house with a sprawling garden and her 3 dogs. ever since my gramps couldn't read anymore he spent a lot of time with the dogs, and he was contented. he didn't like to exercise, as it was really important for people his age to at least let the muscles on their feet recognize walking movements, which annoys my grandma very much.  

my gramps was 83 when he passed away.  i have come to believe that there is always one miracle, where you live, and when something bad happens for the second time it's the cue that you'll go, forever. my grandma (from my dad's side) had that once, and the same thing occur to my gramps. that time was when i was interning in singapore, around mid july where he had to undergo emergency dialysis from his neck and was in the icu for several days.  since then they confirm that his kidneys has failed and he has to undergo dialysis every week.  he was fine after that, but gave everybody a huge scare. i was praying, hoping that he'll live through my internship as it would be very difficult for me to take leave. 

after that incident he fell and broke his left hip.  he underwent a surgery to replace the hip, but he was too weak to sit up straight, let alone walk. although the surgery made him slightly better, *the journey to recuperating was painful for him as he only ate 3 mouthful of porridge of rice every meal, and he was malnourished, so to speak* but it took away the 2nd thing he likes to do in this world, which is sitting in a cross legged position.  my gramps was kinda vain too.  when he was getting old and becoming slightly unsteady while he walks my uncles bought him a walking stick. but he complains that by using that would cramp his style. he has never use a walking stick, and occasionally when i see him wobbling i would have to quickly hold his hand *yes he does not like to be hold when he walks. he demands total freedom*.