It was a long and hot summer day. I was seven years old hanging out with my sister and cousins causing mayhem and chaos, as usual. Since it was during the summer my Grandma would take care of us while everyone else went to work. She was the only adult around. She would usually read her Thai newspaper or watch old Kung Fu movies that had been translated into Thai.
One day, there was a giant Tarantula crawling on the wall upstairs. It was my sister, my cousin Theresa and myself who noticed it as we walked out of the bedroom. We immediately ran back into the room screaming and franticly grabbing the sheets to cover the opening underneath the door. We looked for another way of escape. The bedroom was on the second floor so the climb was too much for seven-year-olds. We decided to wait it out, hoping the Tarantula would grow tired of waiting for it’s prey and leave. A couple of hours passed and we decided to take a peak out of the door. Sure enough, the Tarantula was still there but only closer to the doorway. We repeated the screaming as we ran back into the room and franticly grabbed the sheets to cover the opening underneath the door once again.
Finally, through all the hysterical screaming, my grandma came up the stairs to see what the commotion was all about. We opened the door and noticed that Grandma had obliviously walked right by the Tarantula (to this day I don’t understand how she was completely unaware of a Tarantula that looked like it came out of “Clash of the Titans.”). When we pointed it out to her, she quickly grabbed a magazine, rolled it up and held it over her head like a samurai warrior and chopped it down with one strike like she was Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.
That’s really Grandma in a nutshell. It would take some commotion to get her attention and at times she was oblivious to her surroundings but she was always there for us when we were kids. She wasn’t the amazing cook my mom was (actually she was pretty lousy) but she made sure we had food on the plate.
The truly amazing part of my grandma’s story was that she grown up being a Buddhist. Thai people have it indoctrinated in their minds that to be a Thai person you need to also be Buddhist. However, once my mom became a Christian my grandma was one of her first converts. This was a miracle because old people, as you know, don’t really change all that much. Converting from Buddhism to Christianity is quite the change. My mother and grandmother would attend church together and even were baptized just a year apart. Sadly, my grandma had a stroke that would render her in a vegetative state just a few years after her conversion. Although she progressed back to a state of partial awareness, she was never able to speak again. Seeing her unable to talk floored me. The family thought it best to move her back to Thailand.
My mom and I made a trip to Bangkok in the summer of 2005 to visit her. My mom was still extremely affectionate towards her and at night, she would lie by her side in bed and gently stroke her hair while telling her stories of how much Jesus loves her. I’m not exactly sure if my grandma understood any of it or if it impacted her at all. However, watching my mom’s example of unconditional love towards my grandma certainly impacted me.
Grandma’s last few months were extremely painful as her health began to deteriorate rapidly. Finally, the Lord released her from her pain and she is home with Jesus now. Death always brings sobering thoughts to mind and causes me to take personal inventory on my own life. I’ll never forget the care my grandma provided when my mom had to work as a single mother. What I take away from my grandma’s life is her example of contentment and servant-hood.
So I rejoice that my grandma is finally home with the Lord. She no longer is experiencing pain but is experiencing joy unspeakable. She is no longer in a deteriorating body but in a glorified body that cannot waste away. My grandma is a reminder of the godly legacy my mom left behind and the godly legacy I need to follow.
…till next time Grandma, when we will talk again.
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