We decided to write each a note,
purportedly from the other, saying that he or she wanted to make up.
Unfortunately, our ploy did not work. I suppose our handwriting gave us away.
My grandparents, alas, continued to
be at loggerheads with each other, despite the fact that they lived under the
same roof. My grandmother had for some reason taken offence with my
grandfather, so even though my grandfather would drop sly hints of a rich widow
who was interested in him, my grandmother refused to make up with him.
Nonetheless, she continued to cook for him and fold his clothes after they had
been washed by the washerwoman.
One of the dishes which my
grandfather loved was "pong tauhu". This is a soup with strips of turnip
and meatballs made of minced pork, mashed up tauhu and either minced pork or
pieces of crabmeat (see picture above). He probably liked the dish as it was soft and easy to chew.
Neither he nor Mama had any teeth, as they had been advised years ago by a
dentist to remove all their teeth. As a result, they both had to rely on
dentures. This became a problem for my grandmother, as her gums started giving
way.
I sometimes think one reason why my
grandpa continued to stay with my grandmother was her cooking. Despite having
had little education, as her family could not afford to educate her, she was
great at planning our menu and at executing it. Another reason was perhaps
because of her smile. One day, after coming back from school (I worked as a
teacher for some time), Mama suddenly
woke up as I sat by her bedside. On realising that her hands were not tied (we
had tied them to stop her from pulling out her feeding tube), she gave a sudden
smile, said, "I'm not tied!" and went back to sleep. Meanwhile, I had
been stunned by how pretty she looked when she smiled. This was when she was
about 94 or 95 years of age. I suppose my grandfather must have been charmed by
that same smile.
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