The Oldest Person I Know
By Kevin Chen (Block C)
How do we define old people? Usually the old
people are the seniors who are higher than most people in age. They’re an
important part of our society, and make up a fair amount of our population.
What if one day someone asked you who is the oldest person you know. Who would
be the first person that comes to your mind? You would probably think about
your grandma or grandpa, or the old man in wheelchair who lived beside your
house for over 20 years. For me, the person that comes to my mind first is my
great-grandma.
My great-grandmother whos is my mom’s
grandma; she is now almost 100 years old. In my memory, she is always that laborious
lady that seems never been able to get a break from all the housework.When I was born, she is already 71 years old.
Her age can easily be seen from the wrinkles and loose muscles on her arm. The
hair is very exiguous, that you can see her scalp from the top, and the hair
that still remains are already grey. She
always wears that same antique cotton coat from almost centuries ago. There’re
several mending on that the coat, but she still likes it more than all the
other clothes that we bought her. Another
of her habits is keeping old things. If you get a chance to visit her drawer,
you will be able to find many interesting things. It varies from a series of
toys my mom used to play to a collection of postal stamps from 1940s. One time
I’ve actually get a chance to see all the “collection” of my grandma, I counted
that there are 40 different types of materials found in her drawer including a
first generation Motorola cell phone that no longer functions.
The
smell of her room is also very special and memorable. It's a mixture of all different types
of spices that she uses for cooking, and it varies from time to time. Whenever
she cooks something salty, the room will also smell the same. It’s hard to
describe how can that happen?? Sometimes it’s easy for me to guess what they
ate for dinner last night just by staying in my grandma’s room. Every time if I
guessed it right, she will always ask me curiously how did you know that?
Washing dishes, cleaning rooms, and wiping
table are all jobs that my great-grandma did for more than half of her life. If
you ever get to see her working, you will be surprised by her agility to do all
the housework. Especially the speed that she wipes the floor, it seems that she
can finish the whole floor in around just 5 minutes. Don't doubt about the
quality, it’s cleaner than me doing it for the whole day. Also washing dishes is another specialty for
my great-grandma. Every time I go to my grandparents’ house, my great-grandma will
do everything from cooking to cleaning. She will cook many of the dishes that
you like and forces you to finish all even if it tastes bad. Then, before you
even finish eating, she already starts to gather the empty plates and start
washing them. It may seem rude to those who first went to my great-grandma’s
place. But after a few times, you’ll get use to her.
As time
passes by, my great-grandma was no longer been able so sharp with doing
housework. Instead she always carry a walking stick with her back is hurting
all the time and she can merely walk by herself. Every day, she has to take
many medications to keep her safe from heart attacks, because she was sent to
the hospital many times because she was ill and had to rest in bed for many
weeks. Now we have to get my grandma one of those signal transporters that
connects to the emergency. Since my grandparents might not be home all the
time, so whenever she is sick, she can just press one of those buttons and the
hospital will know that she needs help.
My great-grandma until now is the oldest
person I know. She is also one of the most important people that really influenced
me to be hardworking and willing to contribute to the family. I hope she can
healthily and be happy everyday of her life.
