I visited grandma today after work. I had bought some kueh for her from People's Park during lunchtime today. Me and Emily had gone there to change some currency for our Tokyo and (her) Korean trips. So many people are going to the now "super cheap" Korea that we had to go to 4 different money changers before we got what we want. The 1st 3 were all out of stock for the Won.
Anyways, upon K's suggestion, i had intended to bring my grandma downstairs to the playground below her block for a walk. K mentioned that I should bring her out rather than stay in the house and always asking her useless questions like what she ate for dinner etc. etc... Which was true.. I don't really know what else to do except watch TV with her and talk to her.. Nowadays, her speech ability is getting worse.. so can't really talk much to her either..
Desperate to do something that will cheer her up, i decided to give K's suggestion a try. Upon reaching my grandma's place, i found that the maid had already brought her downstairs for a walk. In fact, she does it every evening. Which was a good thing i guess! So i went downstairs to look for them.. As i was walking towards the playground, i saw them walking back.. I asked grandma if she wanted to stay downstairs a little longer, but she declined.. So we went back and eat the kueh instead. And silly me, go and buy odeh odeh for her.. all the little coconut bits made her choke and cough.. so in the end, she didn't really eat much of the rest of the kueh.. So now I still have half a box of kueh left.. = (
After watching TV for about 10 minutes with nothing much to talk about, i decided to play cards with her. Another fantastic suggestion of K. I don't know what i will do without him!! = )
We played Blackjack, something she was familiar with since we play the game with family every Chinese New Year. To my surprise, she couldn't even read some of the numbers on the card.. and she had difficulty doing addition. She had forgotten how to.. = ( So for the next 20-30 minutes, i taught her how to read the numbers, add.. sometimes she got it right, most times wrong.. When i ask her how many points she had on her cards, she will just look at me blankly for a long time... Nonetheless, there were a few times when she laughed.. i think the game cheered her up a bit.. But still a bit worried and sad that she has become like that. Before i left, i instructed her maid to do the same thing with her every day from tomorrow onwards. Hopefully there will be improvement..
K and I left my grandma's around 8pm, and headed to Bedok Interchange for dinner. There, we saw a huge crowd gathering around what sounded like a middle aged male singer. From the voice, I could never had guessed the singer is this old man who looked like he's more than 75 years old.
He was singing hokkien songs, and tapping his little cymbal drum as he sang. He sang with so much passion and enthusiasm, like he really enjoyed what he was doing. I was really insipired by him. And he seems pretty strong too for his age. K said he is strong because of who he is, and who he is was also the reason why he can sing with so much enthusiasm unlike that of a 75 year old. K also mentioned before that those who work hard should be rewarded.. And so we donated $2 to him.. Not long after we did that, many others followed.. Before that, they were just standing around and listening to him sing.. = )
When i saw the old man, i wished my dad was there. To see just how much passion there was in this man who was easily 15 years older than him. How he is still basking at his age, doing whatever he can to keep himself busy and earn an income.. Hopefully he will feel more motivated.. sigh..
Anyways, upon K's suggestion, i had intended to bring my grandma downstairs to the playground below her block for a walk. K mentioned that I should bring her out rather than stay in the house and always asking her useless questions like what she ate for dinner etc. etc... Which was true.. I don't really know what else to do except watch TV with her and talk to her.. Nowadays, her speech ability is getting worse.. so can't really talk much to her either..
Desperate to do something that will cheer her up, i decided to give K's suggestion a try. Upon reaching my grandma's place, i found that the maid had already brought her downstairs for a walk. In fact, she does it every evening. Which was a good thing i guess! So i went downstairs to look for them.. As i was walking towards the playground, i saw them walking back.. I asked grandma if she wanted to stay downstairs a little longer, but she declined.. So we went back and eat the kueh instead. And silly me, go and buy odeh odeh for her.. all the little coconut bits made her choke and cough.. so in the end, she didn't really eat much of the rest of the kueh.. So now I still have half a box of kueh left.. = (
After watching TV for about 10 minutes with nothing much to talk about, i decided to play cards with her. Another fantastic suggestion of K. I don't know what i will do without him!! = )
We played Blackjack, something she was familiar with since we play the game with family every Chinese New Year. To my surprise, she couldn't even read some of the numbers on the card.. and she had difficulty doing addition. She had forgotten how to.. = ( So for the next 20-30 minutes, i taught her how to read the numbers, add.. sometimes she got it right, most times wrong.. When i ask her how many points she had on her cards, she will just look at me blankly for a long time... Nonetheless, there were a few times when she laughed.. i think the game cheered her up a bit.. But still a bit worried and sad that she has become like that. Before i left, i instructed her maid to do the same thing with her every day from tomorrow onwards. Hopefully there will be improvement..
K and I left my grandma's around 8pm, and headed to Bedok Interchange for dinner. There, we saw a huge crowd gathering around what sounded like a middle aged male singer. From the voice, I could never had guessed the singer is this old man who looked like he's more than 75 years old.
He was singing hokkien songs, and tapping his little cymbal drum as he sang. He sang with so much passion and enthusiasm, like he really enjoyed what he was doing. I was really insipired by him. And he seems pretty strong too for his age. K said he is strong because of who he is, and who he is was also the reason why he can sing with so much enthusiasm unlike that of a 75 year old. K also mentioned before that those who work hard should be rewarded.. And so we donated $2 to him.. Not long after we did that, many others followed.. Before that, they were just standing around and listening to him sing.. = )
When i saw the old man, i wished my dad was there. To see just how much passion there was in this man who was easily 15 years older than him. How he is still basking at his age, doing whatever he can to keep himself busy and earn an income.. Hopefully he will feel more motivated.. sigh..
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April 7, 2009 at 12:16 PM
my grandma is in the same situation. she doesn't recognise many of her family including me and her ability to do anything is greatly diminished. I think for old ppl, they don't need a lot of change or new activities.
i'm sure just by both Keson and you being there, made her day. So don't put too much pressure on yourself.