A wonderful lady

More than 80 years ago, a lady married a rich man, and gave birth to 5 children. Her hubby died early and poor, and she had to single-handedly take care of the children.
This lady survived past World War 2, consuming more tapiocas within the 3 years 8 months than you will ever eat in your life.

Life was harsh, but the lady and her family survived. Her children are now leading a decent life. And one of the children, is my mum.

This lady, my granny, one that I affectionately called ahma, had been one of the biggest influence in my life, other than my mum. She took care of me till I was Primary 3.

Gentle and completely honest, and she had a smile that will radiate all that is around her. If smiles are contagious, then she's one infectious person.

I have always associated people who grew up with their ahma as people who are more sympathetic to older people. She made me appreciative of what is going around me. Nope, she did not directly teach me that. But somehow, you become more aware of things when you mix around much with older people.

She was a selfless person, often putting others a notch above her. If u have not arrived home, she will wait till you get home and bathe before she does. She will be taking the rice from yesterday while she serves you the freshly cooked rice. She is a vegetarian, but continues to cook a little meat now and then to feed her carnivorous grandchildren.

For someone who has been with a rich family before, she was thrifty. She does not have anything fancy, nor craves for anything expensive, other than her favourite mee suah (noodles) and Khong Guan biscuits, which she always say that it goes well with Milo. Lunch was normally leftovers from yesterday's dinner.

No one could ever possibly go hungry under her rule.

She never had a secret agenda. She is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). She is an apple that looks good on the outside, and contains no worms on the inside.

When I was young, I always tried to delay bathing. She will ask me for a condition to fasten my start of bathing time. And I will ALWAYS ask for her to buy me a computer game after I finished bathing. She will ALWAYS say yes (despite having no money) to pacify me, and somehow I will ALWAYS end up forgetting to ask her for it after my bathe. She did not remind me either. That was the only lie that I recalled, a white lie.

I was never a good grandson, raising my voice with impatience at her during my younger and immatured days. She took my anger in stride, never raising her voice back at me. She taught me what patience was, in an indirect way. Her love for her grandchildren was unrivalled.

She had a great part to play to make me what I am today.

Thank you, Ahma!
And Happy Birthday to you!

I will write about the birthday celebration another day. ^_^