6:11 p.m. - 2007-04-13
mom is back from china
Mom came back from her annual trip last night and found that some of her plants had died.
Well, only one actually. Because I didn�t water them as much as I should.
Those thirsty buggers.
She went back to china with my aunt to clean and sweep the tombs of her mother, my grandma, and her grandparents.
�So how was the trip? Did you manage to see the sea?�
My mom told me before she went on the trip that she used to go to the beach with a bunch of other little friends when she was barely 10. They would walk over 2 mountains and then reach the beach in the afternoons where they would play by the sea and sing songs.
Along the way, they would ask farmers for rice husks and then boil them with water later for food. They were so hungry then and didn�t have any money. Some of the other kids would also crawl to people�s gardens and dig up their potatoes to eat. Once they were caught, but luckily, the farmer�s friend recognized one of the kids as his nephew and told the farmer to let them go.
Mom said she�s going back to Hainan Island and this time, after all those years, she wants to see the sea again.
�Yes, it was really beautiful! There were also a lot of� what�� she struggled to find the words, � �Muslims� (she tried and said in English) there were a lot of Muslims there. They were at the beach on holiday.�
She had just gotten back and hasn�t eaten dinner on the flight, so we went out to get some food at the hawker center.
As we walked through the void decks of HDB flats, she told me more about her trip.
�You know, your eldest aunt living there, she had a dream, she dreamt that my grandmother came to her crying and said, �I am not a person�I am not a person.��
�Huh? You mean� maybe she got reincarnated as an animal.�
�Oh no� I think it�s because she felt left out� because the tombs of my grandfather and parents had been fenced and properly fixed up but hers wasn�t� she probably felt we had overlooked her and didn�t give her face� so I told your eldest aunt to get some workers to fix up her tomb.
�Yea� and then one night while I was sleeping in the room of the resort at Sanya, my grandmother came and visited me. I was quite scared.�
�Wow really? What did she say?�
Mom didn�t answer me and continued talking about other things.
�The night before we went to sweep the tombs, my childhood friend came to visit me. She also slept over at your aunt�s house. We talked and I asked her if she wanted to help me sweep the tombs and she said yes.
So the next day, early in the morning, the sky was looking as if it would rain but it didn�t, we were there squatting and pulling out weeds and cutting grass; it was really hard work. And not only one tomb, there were three.�
�You haven�t met this friend for more than 40 years and she just helped you? She must be old now and she still recognizes you?�
�Yes,� she said and smiled.
�Wow.�
�We made a mud figure to represent your grandfather and your eldest uncle dripped a drop of his blood onto it and then we prayed at your grandmother�s tomb.�
My grandfather died and was buried in Singapore while my grandmother died in Hainan Island.
The porridge and noodles had arrived at our table and we began to eat them. It was a hot night and the noodles were spicy, we sweated as we ate.
She sighed and said, �There was only me and your aunts sweeping the tombs. After this generation, don�t know who��
I tried to cheer her up and said, �Ok I�ll help you next time.�
But I meant my grandfather�s tomb over here in Singapore at Lim Chu Kang.
I think Mom misunderstood me.
�Don�t anyhow say okay,� she smiled. �If you say you�ll do it, you must do it.�
I laughed and nodded.
�When you die, I�ll put you next to Pa.�
Mom nodded as she ate and said, �Yes, you got to pay some more money then but yea, put me and your father together.�
