2004

The year was 2004, when a person in my family that was extremely close to me has to leave us. Her time has come. Reaching the age of 88, she seems to be one of the strongest will power senior citizens that can be seen in my residential area. All the neighbors are delighted with her presence. For your information, the one I am talking about is my grandmother.
Since I was a child, my relationship with her was extremely good. During my childhood, I was always left in the house with my grandma. She is the one who take care of me, care me and understand me the most. I had been pampered and given things that I want and I never been punished for the things I did wrong.
Things happened unexpectedly. On one unfortunate day, my grandma fell in front of the bathroom. To worsen the case, my grandma was diagnosed to have a minor stroke on her left side of the body. Procedures and documents are arranged so that my grandma was admitted to a government hospital. We have the choice to send her to a private hospital but after thousands of discussion, my grandma was admitted to the hospital where my cousin was working in. With him observing my grandma, all my aunty and uncle seem more relieved.
Chinese believed that when an elderly fell down, it was an early symptom for that person. It means that the time for the person has come. After an x-ray examination, the doctor told us the news that none of us expected and none of us wanted to hear the news. My grandma was diagnosed with stomach cancer *to be soft, it is also called as stomach ulcer*. Stomach cancer is one of the most suffering cancer type diseases. Carrying a disease like that means that you cannot even digest the food you had put in your mouth and having blood in your feces. More and more bloods are drained out from my grandma’s body.
At last, the doctor asked us to bring back my grandma, saying that we must treasure the time with her. All my aunties and uncles promised that they will take turns to take care of my grandma, but at last, ended up with me and my sister staying all night long taking care of my grandma. When questioned, all my aunty and uncles give plenty of unreasonable excuses just to neglect their responsibilities as a filial child.
October of that year, my grandma passed away. During that time, all my relatives that haven’t showed up before this came to pay their last respect. Complains after complains on my family saying that they can take care of my grandma better. After the funeral, my father’s siblings seem to break apart. All of them do not visit each other anymore, except for Chinese New Year.
2 years later, another unfortunate incident happened. Just after 2 days of my grandma’s death remembrance, my 2nd uncle passed away. He was a strong man, carrying the burden of supporting the family all by him. Breakdown of all the important parts of his body is his death cause. It happened to sudden as I was the last person that saw him alive, taking an afternoon nap in my bedroom.
This year, my oldest uncle was diagnosed a major sickness. Cancer. He fell just days before my grandma’s death remembrance day. Everyone does not hope the same thing to happen again. Everyone pray hard so that he can live through this crucial period. He undergoes a major operation last Friday. Doctor says that due to his weak lung, he might get stroke during the operation, and it will take his life. We waited for 7 full with worries hours. But, he undergoes a successful operation but we still doubt whether he is strong enough to withstand his life any longer.
All of this causes stress and more pressure to me. I worried things will be uncontrollable. I knew it will bring a huge impact to my family and I, but memories of the past just seem to hunt us whenever the day was just around the corner.
Believe me, for certain conditions, old folks home and euthanasia wasn’t the worst choice you can make. It might be the best thing that you can do for your love ones.
~ck~