meet my grandfather

How I did it: You know, my mother left her home when she was 19. She left her country for Belgium. My grandfather and grandmother had never met us before. The last time they'd seen my mother, it was when she went back to see them 11years ago.

The last time my grandfather talked to my mother, he said "when are you going to see me?". Because we don't have money, we had never been able to meet him.
The last 10years, my grandfather has seen her 2 brothers and her 3 sisters and all of his grandchildren except for us: me, my brothers and my mother.

But when my grandfather got sick, we decided to go to Laos.
When we arrived, he was already really weak and scrawny, he couldn't even sit and talk.
 But, when we told him that my mother, me and my brothers we were there, he gathered all his strength to raise his head and look at us. He couldn't talk but we all knew that he was very very happy. It was our first meeting...and we didn't know it was our last moment...

...
That night, his health got worse, that's why we went to see him the following day.
When we saw him, we all knew it was for that day...
I would've liked to stay by his side until the end, but my mother told me to leave with my aunt.

Then, it was like in a movie. It started to rain heavily, I was in the car with my aunt and my cousin. When the phone rang, my aunt has answered and then...she screamed to go back.
My cousin who was sat next to me hold tightly my hand...because we were afraid.

When we arrived at the temple where my grandfather lived, I got out of the car and then I ran the fastest I could under the rain. During my race, I met one of his students. He said,"He's gone...". I didn't want to understand nor to believe it, that's why I ran and I ran.

In the room, he was there, lying on the bed, with a veil on his head.
When I realized I would never be able to get to know him better, I burst out in tears.

My cousin take me to my mother...She wasn't crying but she had a really sad face, she took me in her arm and she said that I didn't have to...
Then she phoned her sisters and brothers to tell them...At this moment, I knew that she was the most saddest in this room.

At the funeral, I wasn't there, because I'd had to go back to Belgium with my brothers.But my mother stayed, it was a big ceremony because my grandfather was really respected by a lot of people. During the funeral, all I know is that my mother cried...I don't know how many time she'd waited for this moment...

After that, my father said that until the very end, my grandfather was an incredible man.
Just before he died, the wind had been blowing very strongly and the rain was pouring very heavily, at his last breath, he had joined his hands, like a prayer. My grandfather was a master buddhist. I don't know if it's related. But I want to believe that he was a great man.

All that I know, is that he was happy when he left this world. This is my consolation.

Lessons & tips: Meet your grandfather before it's too late or take the chance to got to know him better.

Dec 18, 2008, 05:48PM PST | 1 comment | 1 cheer