My grandpa was a serious man. He used to be a soldier when
he was young, and he joined several wars which are marked as important events in
Chinese modern history. He did everything in great organized order and
sometimes we thought that he was a little over stubborn. He got up exactly at 5
o’clock at dawn to water his flowers and plants in the garden. Even if it’s raining
or snowing, he would still go and do the same thing that he had been doing for
several decades. He remained his strict
personality that came with him from the army and no one could easily change his
decisions or minds. When he was in hospital, his stubbornness was shown
completely. As his situation getting worse, the family and doctor reach a
consensus to transfer him to the ICU. However, surprisingly, my grandpa didn’t agree
to move even if his life was related closely to this decision. This deadlock
remained for several days and after a night that he was in serious danger, he
finally compromise, unhappily.
I’m feeling so warm when I remember the special smell that
my grandpa used to have. If someone asks what are important to my grandpa
except for plants, I would say tea. To be more accurate, my grandpa can live
without having meals, talking to people but he would not leave tea. As he drank
so much tea, his smell was like the green tea which was fresh and pure. Later
when he became sick and weak, we got him many traditional medicine to make him
feel better, so the bitter scent of medicine casually went with him, mixed with
the slight tea smell, and my grandpa was like an old man living in the deep
forest and as natural as a man could be.
My grandpa was soon driven into endless coma after I went
back to China in summer. Then all about him was relatives’ helpless cry and
broken-hearted tears. Anything about his seriousness and smell was gone with
the wind.
So that was the oldest person I knew and would never forget.
