My maternal grandmother passed away last Monday. June 22, 2006. She was 87 years old. She would have been 88 this August 7th.
Some people do not know this but I was very close to her. Closer than some grandchildren to their grandmother, because a) she lived with us at home and b) I was her ONLY grandchild (she was an only child, she had an only child, who also had an only child).
I still feel bad up to now. The pain hasn't left. It hasn't diminished, it just lingers. Everything normal before isn't now. Even though I still do the same things I do at home when she was around, they will never be the same. Ever.
I'm surprised that I shed so little tears for her. I only cried when she was still in the hospital, her life slowly ebbing away. That was it. Didn't cry when I arrived with my father around 4:30am to find her lifeless body laying on the bed. Didn't cry when I saw her for the last time before she was cremated. Didn't cry at the memorial services held to celebrate the life she had.
Then again, what is there to cry about? She's gone. No matter how many tears are shed, no matter how many memorials are held, she'll never come back. She's gone.
Gone.
I miss her. But I was lucky to spend 25 years of my life with her. Through the good and the bad.
Thank you, Lola. I love you and I miss you.
Out.
i really cant get over this three generation only child story. really fascinating. ibig sabihin on your maternal side, you have no aunts, uncles or cousins, no. like for a family reunion, this would mean that you would have to trace the descendants of your great grandmother (unless she was also an only child) for the closest relatives and these would be people who are already two or three degrees separated from you. in my life, i know of only one friend who is an only child. and i remember when i first learned that he's an only child. i reacted with disbelief. i mean, i knew that was possible, of course. but i wanted to touch him then, to make sure he was real. like how was that possible, to be the center of the universe in the family? my mother had six brothers and sisters; my father had twelve. on my paternal side alone, i have 39 first degree cousins.
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