Grandma's love story

Grandma came from China with her dad and step-mum. Those days they thought Malaysia was a rich land. All who came will be rich in no time. Didn't take them long to realize, no doubt, the land was rich but not all who work here were. Her dad work very hard trying to make ends meet. By the time grandma was in her early teens, her step-mum had three kids of her own to care for. So they decided to lessen their burden by marrying off grandma, who was only 13 at that time, to a man in his 30s. He had never been married before.

The man she married was a tailor and had a shop of his own. He was such a gentleman that he and grandma slept in separate rooms for the first few years. He claims that he doesn't want to frighten her off. That first few years, they had a father and daughter relationship instead of a husband and wife.

Every morning he would cook, does house work and off he goes to work in his shop. Grandma, on the other hand, had breakfast and later of the day goes out to play with the kids in the neighborhood. When it is meal time again, she would return home to eat and out she go to play. Sometime she would help around the shop.

Mum was conceived when grandma was 16, if I remember the age correctly. Few years later grandma got pregnant again. During her second pregnancy, her husband became very ill and passed away when he was only in his late 40s.

Grandma was devastated at that time. She had never been to school, she was quite illiterate. The only word she could write was her name and the number zero to ten. She can't sew, so the shop was of no use to her either. It seems like it was a small shop and don't worth much either.

She knew there is no way she could support 2 kids as a single mum. Left her with no choice but to give up the unborn child for adoption. She manage to find a childless couple, from the same neighborhood, who is willing to pay her some money to adopt.

Grandma used to tell us how she only manage to spend a night with her second daughter, the night she was born. After that, she never get to see her again. She kept the shirt that her new born wore on the first day, never dare to wash it for fear of losing that lovely baby scent. Every night, for the first few months, she would hold that shirt, sniffs it and cry herself to sleep.

I am not sure if this counts as a love story, because I am not sure if she had ever loved her husband. She did respect him and were grateful that he treats her very well. Guess not all love story ends with a "happily ever after", but I hope mine and yours do. Thanks for reading and have a lovely day.