Transition
Just the night before leaving for HK, my relatives and I gathered at my grandparents' home for the first time after Popo's quietus. Her absence in her own home felt slightly... weird to me, and once in awhile I would look at the house and think about how a person can just vanish from the surface of the earth like that.
Whenever the adults remembered an anecdote which involved Popo, they would laugh and talk about it, and then I would sense their struggling with the fact of her passing as they continued. Gonggong, on the other hand, became a different person ever since the end of May. He's become quiet and reserved, not quite like the Gonggong I've known.
How do you handle the loss of a beloved woman whom you've known and lived with for the past 50 odd years? One whom you have borne many children with, one whom you've gone through thick and thin. What do you do with her belongings? What about the places that remind you of the shared memories? Emotionally, there is so much to handle. So many things to get used to. Death isn't that scary, what's scary is the aftermath of the loss.
Though he's now staying with my uncle and his family, Gonggong goes back to the old house in Yishun every single day. It must be extremely depressing for him.
Feels like it wasn't that long ago when all of us visited Popo in the hospital daily. I miss you Popo, but I know for sure that you're in good hands now.
Whenever the adults remembered an anecdote which involved Popo, they would laugh and talk about it, and then I would sense their struggling with the fact of her passing as they continued. Gonggong, on the other hand, became a different person ever since the end of May. He's become quiet and reserved, not quite like the Gonggong I've known.
How do you handle the loss of a beloved woman whom you've known and lived with for the past 50 odd years? One whom you have borne many children with, one whom you've gone through thick and thin. What do you do with her belongings? What about the places that remind you of the shared memories? Emotionally, there is so much to handle. So many things to get used to. Death isn't that scary, what's scary is the aftermath of the loss.
Though he's now staying with my uncle and his family, Gonggong goes back to the old house in Yishun every single day. It must be extremely depressing for him.
Feels like it wasn't that long ago when all of us visited Popo in the hospital daily. I miss you Popo, but I know for sure that you're in good hands now.