I remember last year, in such a sad parting season, I heard the news of my grandfather's death in the flustered graduation season. The 80-year-old grandfather suffered from several illnesses and his thin body was exhausted. At that time, I was busy with graduation ceremony and driving test, so I missed my last meeting with my grandfather and didn't have time to go home for his funeral. Going home again can only catch up with grandpa's 27th anniversary. However, due to the custom in my hometown, I burned incense paper in a nearby temple on the 27th, and I didn't have a chance to see my grandfather's grave. Later, for various reasons, I have been wandering outside and haven't been home for a long time. It's a shame to say that on the first anniversary of grandpa's death, I didn't bow down at his grave and burn a pile of yellow paper to express my grief to him.
The last time I saw my grandfather was the Spring Festival in 16. The night before I left home, it seemed to be the tenth day of January. My grandfather had been ill for some time. I took his favorite noodles and soft cakes suitable for grandma, and walked a mile to visit him alone.
The sick grandfather lost a lot of weight and his cheekbones stood out. His grandfather, who is 1.8 meters tall, wears a knee-length black coat, sits weakly in a chair and coughs occasionally. I sat in the living room, and my grandmother, my aunt and my cousin surrounded my grandfather. Perhaps because of the surging crowd, grandpa was very happy that night and a smile appeared on his thin face. He fought back his cough and told us about his travels and ways of making a living in those years. During the rest of grandpa's cough, grandma looked at grandpa with reverence, adding how many pairs of straw sandals and baskets grandpa had worn out in those years to the livelihood of the whole family. In the old society, through the combination of parents' orders and matchmakers' words, they experienced the changes from the founding of New China to the present, and walked hand in hand for decades.
Grandpa has always been my idol. He works hard. The tempering of life and the turbulent times he lived in made him a smart and capable businessman. According to my mother, my grandfather was born in 1936, and his grandparents were very strict when he was a child. Every day, a special private school teacher teaches him to read and calculate accounts. But grandpa's peaceful childhood was broken when he was 8 years old. Due to civil unrest and partisan struggle, my grandfather's parents were taken away by a car one night and never came back. There was no news, and all the assets in the house were forcibly taken away after that night. Grandpa, who just turned 8, became an orphan after that night, and his brother, who is two years older than him, also embarked on the road of wandering to make a living. Under the cruel pressure of life, my grandfather worked as an apprentice and a handyman, running around the streets of Yunnan. I learned all these things from my mother's words, but I can imagine that my 80-year-old grandfather has experienced many trials and tribulations in his life during his 80-year life, condensing countless sadness and tears.
Grandpa's voice and smile often appeared in my dreams in the days after his death. A scene reappeared in my mind. Every time I go to grandpa's house, as soon as I step into the living room door, grandpa always smiles and holds a handful of melon seeds or candy, stuffing it into your pocket and hand. In that graduation season, when everyone was celebrating happily, I was so full of sadness for my grandfather that I was immersed in the busy graduation chores and diluted my sadness with busyness. On the day of grandpa's funeral, I kowtowed to my hometown in Chongqing. I wore black and white clothes, shoes and socks in a foreign country for a week, which is the only way to mourn my grandfather's death.
I used to buy this and that for my parents after I graduated and got my salary. I also plan to buy a new pair of glasses for my grandfather. My thrifty grandfather has been wearing those glasses with broken lenses for years. But before I graduated, my grandfather left me. I remember that on February 27th, when I returned to the living room after burning incense paper in the temple, my sick bed had moved away after my grandfather died. The last time I saw him that night, the chair he was sitting in was empty, and the gray photos taken by grandpa in his early years were hung on the wall of the living room. Everything is cold and sad. Listening to grandpa talk about business that night has become a permanent memory. I recall my grandfather with guilt, but I am also glad that I went to see him on the last night before I left home during the Spring Festival that year, and I saw my grandfather on his deathbed laughing for a long time.
After writing the article, I felt melancholy and tears filled my eyes. On the first anniversary, I wish grandpa rest in peace and wish him no more pain and suffering in heaven.
(20 17 was written in Beijing on June 26th to commemorate the first anniversary of grandpa's death. )