Over the weekend I flew back to Singapore, which is what I also did the weekend before last. For the Oct 15-16 weekend, I was back in Singapore for my mum’s birthday and while back home (yes, Singapore is still considered home) I visited my maternal grandma in hospital. She had been hospitalised for two weeks – it all started with a fall at home where she hurt her left hip. She was given some medication that she was allergic to and hence had to be hospitalised. While in hospital, she caught pneumonia and urinary tract infection.
When I went to see her on Saturday she could still speak and complain of her discomfort and she was aware that I was visiting her. On Sunday morning, the doctor called to say her condition had taken for the worse and she was having difficulty breathing. Before I left for the airport to catch my flight in the afternoon, I went to see her in hospital again and was taken aback when I saw how glazed over her eyes were and the difficulty she was having in breathing. I said bye to her and told her I’d come back to see her in Nov.
Sadly, I won’t be able to do so as my grandma passed away on Wed morning. Upon hearing the news, I booked a ticket to return home for the funeral that took place on the Sunday just past. So I found myself on a plane again for the third weekend in a row.
It’s ironic how weddings and funerals – two events on opposite ends of the happiness spectrum – are events that bring people together. My sister and other relatives flew back from abroad and the extended family came to pay their respects. The funeral took place on Sunday morning and afternoon and by 11pm Sunday I was already back in HK.
It was all rather surreal, you know? Within a span of eight days, I saw my grandma reduced from a living being to a pile of bones. At the end of the day, that’s all we’re made up of.