Alicia & 婆婆

This is 婆婆。 Well the girl next to her is my good friend Alicia. 婆婆 is 48 years older than me, that makes her 80 this year! She stays in an old folks home - thats where old folks who have no family/relatives to take care of stays.

It was by coincidence that I got to know her, through Alicia. Thats was about 2 years ago. Usually I try to visit her weekly but recently I've been slagging. Sorry my dear 婆婆!

Visiting an old folks home for me is usually a "heavy-hearted" thing. I always see a lot of the old folks, with no family to care for them. Some of them would also be ill, or having some sort of mild dementia. That's why they feel very happy whenever they have visitors.

Recently she's been complaining chest pains but she refuses to be taken to the doctors. As with most older generation, she prefers to have her own way of "curing" herself. So we would bring her to the Chinese herb stores and she would get what she wants. Although she's 80, she can be rreeeeaaallllyyy stubborn. :) There's practically no way of getting her do anything that she refuses to.

So I hope 婆婆 will continue to have a healthy life ahead. Alicia and me will continue to visit her, sometimes with friends. And I hope people will not just ignore the elderly, especially their own family members. No matter the problem or difficulty, our elders have worked and contributed to the society, and most importantly, brought us up without any hopes of rewards or gratitude.