Mama

I remember friends around me found it odd we called you Mama. I don't know, maybe it's a Peranakan thing to call our grandmothers "Mama". Pronounced as M3 Ma2. I've known you as that my entire life, as have my brother and cousins. 

It's been 11 years since you passed. I miss you Mama.....and I miss...

• your leathery skin & age spots
• your wrinkles & big eyes
• your perfectly straight teeth (cos you had dentures ;p)
• your long long ear lobes
• your permed silver hair
• your super warm and big hands which were a lifesaver in cold shopping malls when I was a little girl 
• the way you pat your stomach when you have indigestion (I think I got this habit from you)
• the way you sat at the coffee table playing solitaire with 2 decks of poker cards by yourself. (I remember the cards were so well-used that some of them felt pretty soft to the touch and their edges were a little furry cos the cardboard was so worn out already)
• your yellow glutinous rice and its accompaniments like friend ikan bilis, sambal, dark soy sauce prawns, etc
• your chin chow & cheng ting
• your lo mai gai & bergedils
• your potato chips & kueh pie tees
• your bak zhangs & chap chyes
• your kebayas and kerosangs
• your "cilakahs" & "yao xius" & other swear words when you watched a baddie do his things in a channel 8 drama
• the way you set up your tilam on the floor each night & refused to sleep on the proper bed Dad did up for you
• the way you would spoon me on the sofa at our old Bedok home and sing nursery rhymes to me on some evenings after dinner. I was only 4 then and still tiny enough to squeeze with you on the sofa. 
• the way you tried your best to sign T.G.Q. on my primary school workbook on a few occasions because I forgot to get Dad to sign my work and I didn't want him to know but I had to hand in my book the next day and you were the only "help" I could get lol...I'm sorry you had to sign even though you didn't really know how to write or read...
• your old white cupboard which stood tall & proud for more than 40 years I think...it was definitely older than me and my heart broke when Mum & Dad sold the Tampines flat and could not bring that cupboard along to Adrian's place....
• the way you hid your various pieces of gold jewellery all over the house to spread the risk in case thieves got into our house. It drove Mum nuts but it definitely amused me as a young shild. 
• your feistiness and spirit even when your physical body and mind was not fully cooperating with you anymore..... 

the list goes on and on....

I hope you're happy & well wherever you are...and may you continue to watch over us and bless us...