I got a text message before noon, from my brother Sam in Taiwan, that our favourite grandma just passed away in the hospital - at 1:35 AM on Aug. 25, 2009, Taiwan time.
I talked to grandma over the phone on Saturday around 6 PM. She understood it was me. She called my name. The last time I saw her was in November 2007. She was sick in bed but in good spirits. She was a fighter!
Her health went downhill about 6 years ago. She underwent a few tough surgeries. My parents and uncles asked for a lot of favours to get the best doctors in town to help my grandma. Even one of those doctors said (exact quote) "I have to treat this dead horse as a live horse and see what happens..." I was so angry at that doctor when I was standing there listening to this cruel comment. I thought he was an arrogant jerk!
My grandma was a culinary genius! Her everyday cooking was better than my special occasion cooking. The best memories of her were either in the kitchen, in the traditional market or in the dining room. Well... and maybe in the salon, getting a manicure and pedicure too. She always had perfect nails and hair. She said to me "女孩子要入得廚房，出得廳堂!"
She was fearless and had a strong personality. She was born in a rich family and they owned a lot of land. She saw her dad and uncle get beaten to death by a communist-incited mob during the war. She escaped and later she married my grandpa, who was in the Nationalist army. My grandpa had to move to Taiwan with the army and left her and their kids behind. She single-handedly brought my mom and her siblings to rejoin him in Taiwan from China via Hong Kong. Many people told her to get rid of the female child (my mom) since it would cost too much for transport and bribes, and it was more dangerous for her to travel with too many children. Sons were considered more valuable, as they wouldn't "leave the family" when they got married. She argued and fought to keep my mom with her. She taught me, "Never give in!"
I remember going to the traditional market with her - picking the freshest ingredients. I recall that she bought live frogs and skinned them in the kitchen. She would stretch the frog skin on a steel cup to make a little drum for me to play. Yeah... that helped me a lot in high school biology class - I was the only girl not afraid of killing a frog for a lab experiment.
She made delicious house wine... it was sweet. She would let me try a little bit of it for Chinese New Year dinner and then I'd pretend I was too sleepy to go home so I got to stay at grandma's after the big dinner.
She was super good at mahjong, too. Even though I never learned how to play mahjong (because my dad disapproved of gambling), I hung around the mahjong table when they played. She gave me tips when I helped serve tea and snacks while they played. Mahjong was her favourite thing to do. She played "mental mahjong" to keep herself mentally alert and sharp.
I miss her!
