My grandma used to live on a small farm 20 kilometers from the town where we stay. Grandma planted vegetables and flowers for sale. In addition, she had a small fish pond where she reared several species of fishes for her and the neighbors’ consumption.
Grandma left a mark on my life for what she was and what she did. You know you love and care for a person when you look at her and feel your heart brimming with a special kind of feeling. That is love and that is what I feel when I looked at Grandma. She was a superb grandmother. She was so adorable and every one of my friends loved her.
She would give us pocket money and fresh fruits whenever we visited her. Every holiday I went and stayed with Grandma. Sometimes a few friends came along. The minute I get to the farm, Grandma would make me forget all my worries and make sure I enjoy myself.
I learned to appreciate nature up close as Grandma taught me to fix a fishing line to catch fish, identify bird calls and animal and insect sounds. She always said that there was no better place for her than nature in the raw. She would wade into the river and even caught fish with her bare hands. Then she would let it go. I discovered the intricacies and techniques of vegetable planting and floral cultivation. Grandma can even predict the weather just by smelling the air and looking at the clouds. The best times I have spent with Grandma were when we sat on the beach to observe the sunrise and sunset. The splendor of the sun made me realize how lucky I was to have such a lovely lady by my side.
I always thought Grandma was the one and only and different from other grandmothers I had seen. For her age and generation, she understood all of her grandchildren and listened to us even when we grumbled about out parents. She was open-minded and I want to be like her when I grow old. She was very supportive of whatever we, her grandchildren wanted to do. She had even gone with us on some
of our nature hikes and adventures to isolated places. She always encouraged us to believe in ourselves.
I remember clearly the times when Grandma and I sat on the beach at midnight to wait for the turtles to come up and lay their eggs. We kept very quiet and as the turtles shed tears as they did their egg laying, Grandma shed silent tears too. She said that she felt sad when she thought of the fate of those young turtles after the eggs hatched. Most of them never made it to adulthood.
The next morning, as we were playing in the sea, something dark floated up to where I was. I screamed but Grandma silenced me and bent to scoop it up. It was a young turtle which must have got detached from its family. One of its legs had a small cut. Grandma took it home and looked after it. When the cut healed, I wanted to keep it as a pet but Grandma advised against it. It was better for the turtle to have a normal life in the sea. So we went to the beach and let it swim away. That day, I learned to appreciate the creatures of nature.
Then, all of a sudden, Grandma’s health deteriorated. It was heartbreaking to see her lying in the hospital bed. Two months down the road, she breathed her last with a smile on her face. My Grandma was definitely one of a kind and one I would change for all the money in the world.
