My Grandmother

            Some of my earliest and best memories of growing up are of my grandmother or ‘Nek’, as she affectionately called. She has influenced our lives in so many ways that is difficult to imagine life without her. She has always been there to share our triumphant and victorious moment, and when we had our share of disappointments and frustrations, she was there with her kind words of comfort. Grandma is both loving and lovable, although she has her eccentricities, and can be quite exasperating at times. She is very much the matriarch of the family and takes charge of all our family concerns- from paying all our bills to deciding the menu of our meals.

           

            Grandma is a septuagenarian, although she does not look a day older than 65. She is able to shed all those extra years thanks to her Estee Lauder eye make-up kit. Although frugal in her spending, ‘Nek’ does not mind indulging in a few luxuries, like make-up and expensive clothes, for it is her belief that ‘fine feathers make fine birds’.

           

            Grandma is very much a workaholic. She is so full of life and her energy knows no bounds. You will always find her busy with a broom or a mop in her hand, or she may busy tending to her roses or orchids with her green fingers.

           

            A woman of fortitude, it is her belief that only the strongest and fittest survive in this world. There is no place in it for moaners and weepers. Some ten years ago, Grandma was confined to a wheelchair after a road accident which left her paralyzed from the waist down. Her sheer will to live and not to be a burden to her son brought her back on her feet again in a matter of just a few months.

            Her incessant preoccupation with health is a recurrent source of annoyance to Dad, whose belly is often the subject of her close scrutiny and ridicule. She is confidents that Dad will soon have his pot belly mentioned in the World Records.

            Grandma makes it a point to know anybody and everybody- from the man in the street to the lawyer who lives a few doors away. The astronomical monthly phone bills are evidence of her gregariousness and her ever-widening circle of friends.

            Although as lively as a cricket, we know that she is in her twilight years. There will come a time she will have to leave us, but, until then, she will always be our friend and a person whom we confide in.