My
grandmother is such an inspiration to me. She was so strong, brave and
courageous. If only I got to know her more and I had more time, I could have
admired her more than I do now.
A
numbing day in February was like any other. Waking up in the morning and my mom
driving me to school. After school, I was waiting for my mom to pick me up,
just like every day. Our silver Buick car pulls into the pick-up driveway. I
see my mom’s eyes, red and puffy; both my sister’s looking glum and concerned.
I start to wonder what was going on. Was it something I had done? As the car
pulls up in front of me, I open the door shaking and intimidated. The drive
home was silent. No one spoke a word.
When
I entered my house, there was a gloomy atmosphere. I see my dad trying to hold back tears. That
was the first real time I had seen my dad be so emotional. I see him
approaching me for a hug. I accept and wrap my arms around him like a little
girl squeezing her teddy bear. After, my mom sits me down and tells me to listen to what my dad had to say.
At that moment, he had told me that my grandmother, who lived in South Korea,
had passed away. While I was digesting the news, it made me think back to all
the memories I had with her when I went to South Korea in 2008.
Every
night she would tell us she loves us and in the middle of the night, she would
come in and cover us with blankets. Whenever we went to the grocery store, she
would always buy us ice cream or anything we wanted. My dad was also thinking
of the memories he had with her.
A
couple of weeks later, my dad took a plane to South Korea to go to my
grandmother’s funeral. My dad’s side of the family all went to the funeral. When
my dad came back from Korea 4 days later, he changed as if he was a whole
different person. He was more understanding and lived every second of the day
as if it were the last.
My
grandmother was really a special person. She had Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is a
disease when your brain loses function. It affects the brain’s memory,
thinking, and behavior. Although she had a popular disease, that didn’t stop
her from loving us. Every day we spent with her, she would show how much she
loved us. At the time, I never really understood why she would do such
admirable and charming things for my sister’s and I.
She
was a very strong Christian woman. Every Sunday in Korea, my grandmother would
make us all go to church even though we didn’t really understand what the
pastor was saying. Going to church was important for her and wanted it to be
important to us too. Even though she had this disease, I never thought of her
like that. I thought that she was just a normal, healthy human being.
After
her passing away, our family never felt so united. I’m so thankful to have her in my life. My
grandmother was such an inspiration to me and a marvelous role model. She
taught me to be more caring to others even though they don’t show any affection
towards me. It amazes me how even though she had Alzheimer’s, nothing stopped
her for being herself. No one lowered her self-esteem. As long as she had her
family, she was blessed.
