Love you, Grandpa!

Last year, the day before Halloween, I spent the whole afternoon to finish my linguistic essay. Maybe because I stared at my computer monitor for a long time, I decided to lie down for a while. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was from my mother. I picked it up, and heard my mother’s crying. I worried and immediately asked her what happened. My mother said, “Ivy, please stay calm. Your grandpa just passed away.” I was stunned. I did not say a word. Actually, I did not even want to say a word. This silence was only lasted for 5 seconds. After that, I calmly comfort my mother and told her that everything would be fined. After I hang up with my mother, my tears just automatically fell down.

I was raised up by my grandpa. When I was young, my parents needed to go to work. It was my grandpa taking care of my sister and me. However, my grandpa needed to work from 9am to 5pm too. Therefore, every morning, my grandpa walked to schools with us, and then immediately went to work. Right after 5 pm, he rushed to our school to pick us up. Just by hearing this, it was so tough for my grandpa to work and take care 2 children every day. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with asthma. I needed to go to the clinic twice a week. Also, that clinic was only opened for weekdays. Therefore, every week, there were two days my grandpa needed to go to the clinic with me right after schools. It was so harsh. But, my grandpa did not ever complain. To him, it was his pleasure to take care and spend time with his granddaughters. Seven years ago, my family decided to immigrate to San Francisco. I still remembered the scene, where my family and I were about to go on the plane and my grandpa secretly swept his tears. We knew that he was sad that we were leaving, but he did not say a word, and just encourage my sister and me to study hard. Two years ago, my grandpa was diagnosed with liver cancer. He was so depressed that he did not even want to live anymore. However, with my family and my relatives’ support, he insisted and sought for treatments. He tried very hard, and suffered for a year. Finally, he passed away.

His whole life was just for working, and taking care my sister and me. When my sister and I were old enough to take care ourselves, he suffered with cancer. It just like that he did not even have time to rest and enjoy his life. It was so depressing. And if it was possible, I would really want to give my grandpa some time to enjoy his life, and not worry about us. But, things have already happen, and there is no way to change the past.

I still do not understand why I was so calm that day. I was sad too. I cried too. Maybe, at that time, I knew that if I cried over the phone, my parents would worry me too. So, instead, I chose to be the one that comfort them. Or maybe, I thought that my grandpa would not want us to feel sad for his death, but rather feel happy that he was finally release from the illness suffering.

Actually, my grandpa had a dream. He really wanted to attend my college graduation in the future. Although he would never see this ceremony physically, I would still try my best to make his dream comes true. Love you, grandpa!