Remembering the Dead – Clare

Being that this is the day when most of us remember those who have gone on before us, I just want to post something about someone I miss: my paternal grandmother.

We called her Nanay. She was already an old lady while I was growing up, which is due to the fact that my father is the youngest of a brood of seven. The first thing I remember about her is how beautiful her hair was: she had long, black hair with streaks of silver that reached way below her back, which she ties up in a bun with a single comb. She also had very fair skin, something which I think I inherited from her (although her skin is so much whiter than mine).

I miss so many things about her. I miss going home from school straight to her house (my parents picked me up in the evenings just so I could spend time with her). I used to spend my weekends with her and she spoiled me and my cousins rotten by cooking anything that we wanted. Mornings were spent deciding what we wanted for lunch and we would have it hours later.

She loved her coffee — I guess that’s why I love it too. Her money used to be kept in a coin purse and a small brown cash envelope in a file cabinet she kept in the house, something that I found unusual but so her. To this day filing cabinets remind me of her actually.

She also loved her soap operas, had a mouth that could drop cuss words when someone pisses her off and can be stubborn to a fault. Still, she loved us very much and we all felt that. I still remember the day she died in her home — just a few minutes before that I was sitting beside her holding her hand and asking her to hang on because I would miss her too much. I remember telling her that I loved her. At least I got to say that before she passed.

I was only in high school when my grandmother died. It was a long time ago but I still miss her. While most people would visit their dead relatives on this day, this is the only way I can remember her today because she’s buried in a place far from where we live now.

Miss you ‘Nay.