This is a really old picture of my mom's side of the family. My mom is the youngest child in her family and when this photo was taken, she was not even born yet!
The lady in black right in the middle is my great grand mother, my Ah Tai. She lived to a ripe old age, well, old enough to see great grand children like me go to school. She passed on when I was just 7 or 8 so I don't remember much of her. But I do remember being told that the one time my parents were late in picking me up from school, she was so upset she cried. Stories like that are precious to me.
My grandmother is the lady in the back row, 2nd from the right. Isn't she gorgeous? How beautiful she was captured me the first time I saw this photo. At the time this was taken, she already had several children! I think my mom got her genes in the looks department. I hope I did too.
Of course the way I remember my grandmother is slightly different. She was much older and had a number of health issues by the time I came onto the scene. She stayed with my family and my most vivid memory of her was of standing with her by our living room window doing her daily exercises. That's how I learnt to count in Cantonese.
My grandfather and great grand father passed on early (they aren't in the photo). But the women in my family are strong independent women. They provided for their families. They kept the family together through tumultuous times in history. They even open their doors and hearts to others who needed a family.
I love listening to stories of my family history. I wish I got a chance to know these people more.
I guess all these stories are only written in the whispers of time.
2 comments:
I simply loved this post. I wish I got a chance to know my ancesters too. I some times look at old pictures like this and try to read their stories on their faces :)
Hi Fatima! Nice to hear from you :)
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