My Great Grandmother I

For One More Day" is interesting because it reminds me to appreciate my family. And to a certain extent, I do. Well, I haven't called my mother for more than three weeks now. I feel guilty, of course.Apart from that, this movie really made me recall my late Great Grandmother. I missed her so much. It's hard to explain why. Let me try, anyway.My late Great Grandmother was an interesting woman. She was a very hardworking woman too, even in her eighties. I remembered when I was a little boy, I saw her keeping busy around the house. You see, since her husband passed away, she stayed in my grandmother's. She would be helping my grandmother to keep house.

Since both of my grandparents have green thumbs, they just loved to plant plants around the house. I remembered that they planted a few rows of tapioca on a hill near their house. I remembered pulling a few trees to cook the under-developed tapioca with my friends. So, when it was time for my grandparents to harvest their tapioca, my Great Grandmother would help them to clean the tapioca and peel them and wash them. Then, she would use a peeler to peel the opaque white tapioca into long thin strips. She would then soak them in water with some salt and dried them for days until those strips are really dried. Then, she would deep-fry them in a huge "kuali". I would dash into the kitchen and she would scold me and shoo me away. I kept coming back of course -- to steal those deep fried tasteless tapioca strips. After a few trips, I would just be bored from her scolding and full from eating those chips that I finally gave the extras to some red ants making a line outside the house.

I could still remember my Great Grandmother's passion about her betelnut leaf tree. She had planted a few shrubs around the house compound. I remembered those green trees crawling up to a dead mango tree and the other one just outside the kitchen. I remembered her dedication and attention to detail when it comes to her tending to those shrubs. She is really proud of them. I guess it's because she used to chew betel leaves with the lime, betel nut and what nots. I used to watched her using the "gobek" to crush the betel nuts. I could almost remember the smell of chewed betel leaves as she tells me stories. One fine day, an elderly man came to our house asking for the betel leaves. He wants to buy them because his daughter is getting married. For your information, betel leaves are among the most important things to have in a Malay wedding -- be it traditional (held in kampongs) or modern wedding (held in posh 5 star hotels). So, he asks whether he could see the owner of the tree. I ask him to wait as I call my Great Grandmother. I found her in the living room sitting in a rocking rattan chair. She goes and see the man. The man says that he wants to buy the leaves from her and she agrees. She goes to her tree and starts to pluck the leaves. She asks me to get into the house and take a plastic bag to put the leaves in. As soon as I arrive, she had finished plucking the leaves. The man was ready to pay as I could see that he has his wallet in one of his hands. He gave her RM5.00, said thank you and leave. I could see that my Great Grandmother is happy. I couldn't understand why then. Now, I know that she is happy because she had just received the benefit from planting the betel leave tree. Even though the amount is not that much, it still made her happy.