Oflate, she has been telling me stories of her childhood - especially of her father.
I have never been lucky to experience the presence of grandfathers; both grandfathers passed away before my parents got married, but I grew up hearing stories of my paternal grandfather from my grandmother, my father, aunt and even other relatives. All of them remember him fondly, though I infer he had been a strict father to my father and uncles. My maternal grandfather however passed away when my mother was barely 9, so I never bothered to ask her anything about him, assuming she has little memory of him. But lately, I realise, her memory is vivid and she remembers him fondly. And I also infer she started telling me stories of her childhood post her cancer treatment, so maybe, despite us giving her everything we could, she might be missing the family she grew up calling her own - her parents and siblings.
Everytime she starts her stories, mostly out of the blue, I make sure I give her full attention. Because I would never know her life before me otherwise and she may just stop telling them if I didn't listen.
And it's a solid reminder for me that no matter who we have in life, when things go wrong, all we wish for would be our parents' presence (if we are lucky to have less toxic family) no matter how old we are. So I want to cherish every moment with them.
With that, I am gonna nudge her to narrate something from her memory, so that it stays with me even after she passes on.
