#37 Bà ngoại

I went back to Switzerland a few weeks ago. For these trips, I usually stay at my mother's place. This time, I stayed with my grandma (bà ngoại^[1] as I call her).

I can't remember the last time I spent so many days with my bà ngoại. It's crazy to think that it might run back to when I was still a toddler, wrecking havoc in her house.

Growing up, she was my hero. She had faced many hardships: extreme poverty, war, migration. But anytime she tells me the stories from her past, they are surrounded by an aura of positivity. She says luck has always been on her side. But what I believe is that she was the one to sow these seeds of luck.

Growing up, I felt like my bà ngoại was invincible. During that trip in Switzerland, it hit me how fragile and old she had become. As she used to be the one to carry me, I am now helping her to walk around. As she was the one tending to my childish scrapes and wounds, I am now taking her mind off her constant physical pains.

She lived her life to the fullest, grateful for all the silver linings. Her body is now failing her, but her mind is still as sharp, her mindset content. I now realize that she was not invincible in body, but in her way of seeing life — fighting hard for her ideals, yet savoring every drop of what she had. ⊙