A few things about grandparents so naturally automatic to make one feel better:
1) They are somehow the world's best culinary artist no matter what surprise ingredient you give them. They always come up with the craziest mouth watering dish for you to cry over when it's finished
2) Their pep talks does not come out so angry compared to when parents lash them out. You actually want to listen to their advices and avoid the bad and do the good
3) They're always there when you need someone to go to
4) Their house is always open for you when you need a place to seek solace
5) They have a lot of hidden treasures in their home that has a story behind it that goes way back into time
6) They share their experiences and stories so full of adventure making you wonder if they actually happened but you believe them anyway because you know they'll never lie about it
7) You go into their house a grumpy, hungry, vulnerable person and leave a happy person as if you have just seen the sunrise for the first time
8) They're not hypocritical. You talk to them about smoking or under age driving and they don't get angry. Instead, they tell you not to do it because you'll get smoke in your lungs or you'll drive the car to the drainage. They tell you because they've been there and have suffered enough and don't want to see you go through the same and they give you the rights to reserve your own judgements.
9) They tell you to get study hard and get educated because if you do, 'bulan bintang ganya inda dapat kamu bali'. They say that because they've seen society's natural human biased attitude towards those with position and ranking and those who have none. You believe them because you know people have treated them like shit before and now, people are squirming and squeezing through spaces just to shake their hands.
10) They are life's gift and God's way to show you that working hard has its benefits and they inspire and motivate you to do better
11) You learn to never settle with where you are now and work harder but at the same time be grateful for the success you have so far
My nini is also the best dietitian because they're the only ones to successfully make me eat a whole plate of fruits and a bottle of water voluntarily.
When listing out a few things I want from a guy, people say I put my bar too high and all I can ever think is, I'm sorry, but my grandfather has shown me how a man can bring 'gentleman' to the next level.
And when people ask me why I cook or clean like a freak sometimes, my thoughts drift to my grandmother telling me that you're not a woman if you can't cook.
Sorry society.
(I feel I should post a picture but I think if I have tried, my words should suffice to paint an image-ish)
1) They are somehow the world's best culinary artist no matter what surprise ingredient you give them. They always come up with the craziest mouth watering dish for you to cry over when it's finished
2) Their pep talks does not come out so angry compared to when parents lash them out. You actually want to listen to their advices and avoid the bad and do the good
3) They're always there when you need someone to go to
4) Their house is always open for you when you need a place to seek solace
5) They have a lot of hidden treasures in their home that has a story behind it that goes way back into time
6) They share their experiences and stories so full of adventure making you wonder if they actually happened but you believe them anyway because you know they'll never lie about it
7) You go into their house a grumpy, hungry, vulnerable person and leave a happy person as if you have just seen the sunrise for the first time
8) They're not hypocritical. You talk to them about smoking or under age driving and they don't get angry. Instead, they tell you not to do it because you'll get smoke in your lungs or you'll drive the car to the drainage. They tell you because they've been there and have suffered enough and don't want to see you go through the same and they give you the rights to reserve your own judgements.
9) They tell you to get study hard and get educated because if you do, 'bulan bintang ganya inda dapat kamu bali'. They say that because they've seen society's natural human biased attitude towards those with position and ranking and those who have none. You believe them because you know people have treated them like shit before and now, people are squirming and squeezing through spaces just to shake their hands.
10) They are life's gift and God's way to show you that working hard has its benefits and they inspire and motivate you to do better
11) You learn to never settle with where you are now and work harder but at the same time be grateful for the success you have so far
My nini is also the best dietitian because they're the only ones to successfully make me eat a whole plate of fruits and a bottle of water voluntarily.
To the 2 most wonderful, amazing, loving, caring, generous and motivational people I know, who's been there endlessly throughout the thick and thin even way before I was born until the person I am now (if I didn't turn out well then that is the result of me being stubborn and has nothing at all to do with them)
Who takes me out every non-school days (even now!), who taught me how to properly remove shrimp skin using forks, who's shown me the world, who responds to my 'let's belayar' nags every December, who's shown me what hardship is through the scars on their skin and the crack in their voice when recalling an event in their lives, who tells me to keep in touch with my roots no matter what happens, the people who taught me sympathy (though I lack it), who's taught me a lot of things I can never learn in school.
And when people ask me why I cook or clean like a freak sometimes, my thoughts drift to my grandmother telling me that you're not a woman if you can't cook.
Sorry society.
To my Nini Bapa and Nini Babu, Happy (Belated) Teachers' Day.
Thank you for the things you have done for me, the arguments you have won for me and the life you have given me.
No amount of words or pages of essays or number of novels could express truly how I feel for you or how much I love you or how I am forever indebted to you, and I can only use 'Thank You' to bring you to that surface of expressions.
(I feel I should post a picture but I think if I have tried, my words should suffice to paint an image-ish)
[ 'The thing about grandparents,' said my son, 'is that they love you in a different way. Parents - sorry - but they drive you up the wall. Because they are always on at you to be better. Smarter. Tougher. Nicer.' He looked at the gravestone. 'Grandparents just accept you the way you are. Grandparents are happy with you in a way parents never are. Parents are always trying to make improvements - as if you are some derelict property that needs doing up. With grandparents it's unconditional love. That's how I remember it, anyway.' Pat glanced at the gravestone. -Men From The Boys, Tony Parsons (Part II, Chapter 18) ]
From them, you learn the world.
For them, you give the world.
xom.
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