Maa was the kind of person whom people will miss and still love even though she’s gone, the kind of person whom others, not just family members, see her as a great and humble person. She was strict when she was younger, when she was still running the restaurant with Gramps, she was a tough women, she was aggressive, but very humble and calm at the same time; she knew her timing well.
Maa liked doing charities, she liked to give back, to the people who are in need. There were times when the family was financially broken, but she still did charities, maybe a bit less than usual, but she would never stop giving back. Whether it was tons and tons of rice or study supplies to whole school or just giving me some pocket money whenever I visited her, she gave it with a smile on her face, sincerely giving it to you. I don’t remember her being unhappy or frowning when she’s giving me pocket money, I don’t think she even thought about doing so, she’s the kind of person who will help you with everything when you need her, without asking for anything back. Nowadays, the reality of the society makes it harder and harder to find people like her, it’s almost like there’s none.
I admit that I have one small regret, and that is, not visiting her as much as I could. I didn’t wholeheartedly want to come to her place and meet her, I was and still am too immature to understand the value of the visits I made, it didn’t mean much to me, but I’m sure she would’ve labelled those visits as “priceless”. After several hours spent on every visit, I get bored, I get a bit annoyed because there was really nothing good to do, and it’s 100% true, I’m not gonna lie, it was really boring and I hated that feeling. Now that she’s gone, I started to think about those visits again and again, and I think I did a great job, I think gave her a great time, I never did anything bad towards her and would never reaction aggressively or disrespectfully towards her. All the time I’ve spent with her personally, I liked it, what I didn’t like wasn’t Maa, it was just the emptiness I felt when she goes on to take her nap after having lunch.
I used to live with her and Gramps, we had a big family, but my family left when I was 12. Our relationship was grand, we were always great together, as I was the first grandson they’ve ever had, they loved me a lot, I can say that it was more than anyone else at that point of time. She looked after me for a very long time, along with Gramps, they fed me, they drop me off and then pick me up from school, buy cool toys and had me live in a life a kid deserves to live in, a life full of joy and lack of stress and pressure. As time went by, our relationship might slightly become weaker, but only a bit, I think. We still saw each other often, and although we didn’t live with each other anymore, she cared, she cared a lot about the family, and especially about me, I told you she loved me the most.
She always puts on her smile whenever she sees me, she would start the conversation first because she knew I had no idea how to start one, especially with elders. She would ask me about school, she would ask me what I was doing when I did not visit her, she would get a bit mad and nagged that I should visit her often. I didn’t try my best to manage my schedule well and visit her as much as I could, like I told you, it’s the only regret I have and one of the most stupid decisions I’ve made in all of my years on Earth; not visiting her often is a sin, an act of disrespectfulness and gracefulness towards Maa, especially after what she’s done for me.
She passed away. Maa was a great person, a great grandmother, a great wife, a great mother, and a great figure to look up to.
