My Grandma

Well, my grandma, or "po-po" never woke up from her coma. We did manage to fly to Anchorage, and I'm really glad we did. I wish she was still alive. There are still so many things I want to do with her. We were going to move to Hong Kong so that she could stay with us and shop and eat with us. We were supposed to go to South America together. We were supposed to go to Las Vegas and watch the Cirque du Soleil show "O." We had so many plans together, and now she's no longer here.

I'm glad we have so many memories with her though. I'm glad Kris got to meet her. I'm glad I got to develop a good relationship with her in the last few years. I'm glad she lived long enough so that I got to appreciate her. I'm glad for the many fond hot-pot, ramen noodle, shabu-shabu, teppanyaki, all-you-can-eat Japanese, shark's fin soup, pei dan sau yok jok (Thousand Year Old egg and pork congee), lobster "goh", dim sum events. I'm glad that we went on the cruise with her this summer. I'm glad that I've kept her leopard print cane.

I wrote a quick poem about her for the memorial in Toronto that I couldn't attend. I still miss her terribly, but I know she's in a better place now, and I can't wait to meet her up there. I wonder if we'll eat together in heaven.

Not a Typical Grandmother…

She wouldn’t bake cookies for me after school…
But she would make me “Pei dan sau yok” Congee every week!

She wouldn’t knit me sweaters,
But she’d fly all the way to Hong Kong to get me designer clothing!

She didn’t click her tongue or wag her finger at the “youthfulness” of my clothing,
But she did shake her head in disapproval at my conservative attire!

She wasn’t the one who asked if I was going to be around for Christmas,
It was always the other way around as she traipsed off to yet another country!

She never bought me tacky or useless gifts like other grandmothers are known to do,
Instead, I looked forward to her gifts cause they were always trendier items than I would ever buy!

She didn’t sit at home watching soaps or listening to the radio,
But she would phone me whenever “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” came on!

She didn’t go to bridge clubs, or hang out with other elderly folks,
Cause, of course, she was really only 30 years old!

She didn’t have wrinkles, and rarely wore glasses,
And we all believe that her cane (an orange, leopard print one) was merely for show!

She was my grandmother, and she definitely wasn’t typical…
‘Cause how many grandmothers do you know who can also be their granddaughter’s best friend?