Good Old Memories

I wasn't lucky to experience to love and warmth of grandfathers but was more than blessed to have two grandmothers who compensated for the absence of grandfather figures. Though my paternal grandmother lived all her life with us, I was more inclined to admiring my maternal grandmother more. 

She used to live in a small, tiled house in the suburbs of our city and we would visit her once in a while. My father, so busy that he was, I don't have a memory of going on vacations or outings with him, but he made sure we visited our grandmother.

The first thing she would give me even until in was 6 or something was baby food! Oh! I love the taste of it even today and is still one of my guilty pleasures 😌 but the name of the baby food always brings her lovely face back into my mind. 

Ever since I could remember, she used to live alone with assistance from her neighbours whenever required. She was healthy and robust even in her 80s and living alone never really scared her, thanks to all the beautiful souls in the neighbourhood. 

I was a difficult child until my early 20s and threw tantrums left, right and center, but with her, I was different. I never wanted to upset her, not because she would punish or was rude, but she was my favourite and I always wanted to be in her good books. 

I hated fish back in the day, but when she cooks, I would relish every bite. She was an amazing cook, which sadly none of us inherited. 

She came to live with us for a couple of years and I loved lurking around her. She was petite and wore dentures ever since I could remember and had wrinkles on her hands, which is kids loved to play with. She was soft spoken and always had this innocent smile which I have started seeing in my mother these days. 

In her last years though, she had drifted into a phase where she barely was herself. She would blabber all the time, scream, make noises while sleeping and had become too difficult to handle. I had by then moved to another city for work, so I barely was with her. It is still painful to remember her in that phase, she became everything she never was. However, she had a peaceful death. 

She was indeed my favorite and I miss her every day. I fortunately have a picture of hers stored on the cloud, she in her 80s. Given a choice, I'd love to spend time with her and gobble on her delicious food. 

Good old memories.