“Wake up!” My mom knocked on the door of my room. I struggled to clear the cobwebs from my eyes. I shot a glance at my digital clock. In bright red numbers, it read “7:00 AM”. I wondered why mom was waking me up so early on the weekend.

“Why so early?” I asked my mom in a tired voice. The instant my mom told me that we were going to my grandparents’ house, a spark in my brain exploded with joy! Now I was fully awake!

“Yippee!” I shouted as a grin spread over my face. I was immediately taken out of my lousy morning mode. My grandparents live about an hour from my house, and they are so nice to me every time we visit. They would often give me cookies and take me around and buy me whatever I wanted.

But my mom said in a grave voice, “Something terrible has happened.” In shock, I sat down in panic until mom told me to start preparing for the trip. As I prepared, dread filled me as I wondered what it could be. 

During the ride to my grandparents’ house, I thought about how to ask her about the bad news. I was scared to find out, but I had to know.

“Umm.. What has happened?” I asked nervously.

“Your great grandmother…” she hesitated, “is extremely sick.” My jaw dropped to my knees. As we continued on the road, she explained that this may be the last time that we see her, and that I shouldn’t misbehave around her. I tried to keep an expressionless face, although deep inside I felt a sadness that was difficult to explain. It was as if I were handcuffed to a boulder that was then dropped into the ocean. My initial joyous mood upon waking was rapidly disappearing.

After a subdued car ride, we arrived at my grandparents’ house. Even as my grandfather warmly greeted me, I could hear the fear in his voice. My cousins were also there. My cousins were hanging out in the corner of the living room, and normally they are upbeat and loud, but today they were very serious and quiet. I joined them and we quietly made small talk about nothing of importance.

We all drove down in our cars towards my great grandmother’s apartment, which was about a ten minute drive from my grandparents’ house. She lived in a retirement apartment complex for elderly people. Because she was over 100 years old and needed to be wheeled around in a wheelchair, she had two people helping her with her everyday activities. Her apartment overall was very small, but also very efficiently laid out and cozy. There was a small kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and living room. The walls had some pictures of my great grandmother and my deceased great grandfather. I found it interesting that there were lots of hand railings inside the bathroom. When I was little, I used to like to climb on them, but that day I barely noticed them.

When we arrived, I saw my great grandmother sitting down in her usual comfortable armchair.  I found a place to sit down on the couch by the window. My grandpa gave us money to play mahjong with my great grandmother. She loved winning money since she had grown up believing that having money equals having happiness. After we played mahjong for a while, we had lunch and spent some more time with her. I gave her a final kiss on the cheek, and then it was time to leave.

A few weeks later, my mom told me that my great grandmother had passed away in her sleep. I walked back to my room, closed the door, and found my eyes suddenly filled with tears. Although it was expected, I had lost the only “great” relative I had known. I sat on the corner of my bed and thought about all of the times I had spent playing games with her. But now she was gone, and I would never see her cheerful smile again.

The funeral was held the following weekend. Many relatives, both close and rarely seen, were in attendance, and the mood was both solemn yet peaceful. My grandmother had lived a long and joyous life, and we had all come to celebrate. My close cousins and I talked amongst each other quietly. My grandpa told me and my cousins to go say some meaningful words to my great grandmother before they lowered the coffin. My sister went first because she was the youngest. As I watched her approach the coffin, she was nervous and didn’t know what to say. She just threw in a rose and casually walked away. Eventually, it came to my turn.

“I hope you lived a good life,” I said quietly. “I really enjoyed hanging out with you and I’m going to miss you.” A tear formed on my cheek, and as I hurriedly brushed it away, I threw a flower on the coffin. When I turned around and walked back to my cousins, I let out a deep sigh.

After the coffin was lowered into the ground, the rest of the funeral was more light-hearted as we celebrated her life. My great uncle had wrapped up a few small objects that my great grandma had loved in newspaper and set them on fire as a way of giving them to her for the afterlife. This led to an amusing part of the funeral because the burning newspapers got out of control, and my great uncle had to dance on them to extinguish the fire. I’m not sure why, but this moment of humor during a sad event has been permanently carved in my memory. As we left the funeral, I whispered one last goodbye to my great grandmother.

After the funeral we returned to my grandparents’ house, and my grandfather showed us many old videos of my great grandmother. I had never seen any images of my great grandmother when she was younger, and I felt I got to know her even better.

Even now, one year later, when I think back upon the day of the funeral, it still gives me a warm feeling inside. Very often when we visit my grandparents, my grandpa tells more amazing stories of when he was younger and living with my great grandmother. Even though she has passed. I still feel her spirit is with us when I hear these stories.