Born in 1928, my great grandma had seen so much—wars, revolutions, and developments she could not have foreseen. She loved telling us stories, even though sometimes her questions made us chuckle. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing.
The Soccer Game and jet Lag
One evening we watched a soccer game on TV. Great Grandma squinted as the players rushed back and forward. “Why are these men nonstop runners? She asked, “They do get tired?”
We told her the game was videotaped from another country and the athletes weren’t actually playing right now. She nodded subtly then remarked, “then why don’t they just rest and play later?”
She waved her hand while we tried to explain time zones and jet lag. “You slept if you were exhausted in my days.” We all burst out laughing.
The Patched Jeans
In the late 1980s, fashion trends sweeping China were jeans with colorful patch stitched on them. Buying a pair, my grandma thought it was stylish on my mom. Great Grandma gasped, nevertheless, when she first saw them.
“Aha! There are patches on this torn jeans.” Great Grandma carefully sewed the patches down with needle and thread. Then she told my grandma firmly “they don’t split apart after I fix them!” Everyone laughed how lovely our great grandma is!
Years later, my mom came upon the jeans in an old trunk—exactly restored by Great Grandma’s hands. She treated them as a treasure, a remembrance of a woman who lived through history but always saw the world in her own practical, loving way.