Sunday, April 24, 2005

Funeral

Today was a really odd day. I had to go attend this funeral of a relative. Of course to most of you, such a relation might qualify as distant but to me, not really... To be more specific, it was my Grandmother's Sister's Husband's funeral. What surprised me a lot was my Uncle's behaviour. He was calm and collected, the loss showing behind his cool nature, evident with the wrinkles on his forehead.

Anyways, let me get to the point. My Great-Grandmother was there weeping her heart out. She is one of the noblest women I have ever seen my whole life. She is one of the very few people who have earned my respect... As a human being, as a compassionate soul. Hers has been a tumultous life... She was married at the age of 13, bore my Grandmother at the age of 14 or 15 (yes, 14 or 15). Went on to have 8 more children... 9 in all. Was widowed very very early in life... Took care of her infant sister when she was seriously ill (BTW my great-great-grandmom had 16 kids, 3 sets of twins, of which only 9 survived... And for those of you who don't know what it is to see your Great-Great-Grandmom, ask me.) In fact, when my great-granddad died, my grandmom didn't even know who her dad was. Complex story, but to put it short, my grandmom and the infant traded places.

My great-grandmom, all of 83 years old, has seen much more than that. She has had to watch people younger than her pass away, and I guess it would seem logical for her to weep her heart out cos' today her own daughter's husband passed away. In fact, even one of her own daughters' passed away a couple of years ago. Which parent can watch their prodigy be cremated eh? Tell me. In spite of all this, she is still a very pleasant person to be with. I never seem to have a generation gap with her. Astounding, ain't it? I have my own private space yet I can freely discuss a lot of things with her. Some things hurt a person a lot and the sight of my great grandmom crying was too much. This post, if it would have been penned on paper, would have been a teary mess... Words are hard to come by, to describe a person of her calibre. I am proud to say that some of her genes still reside in me. Amen. ***Arcane sniffs his nose and mutilates a hanky***

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