Written on the third anniversary of my grandma’s death

In the evening, I took my baby for a walk. She jumped ahead and reached out to pull the cowpea-like fruit on the catalpa tree to take home. I explained to her that it was not a cowpea. Suddenly, I thought of my grandma’s cowpea cultivation. Best, my heart suddenly sank, tears almost came out of my eyes, grandma's face and the scenes from the past came to mind again.

When I was a child, my mother told me that I was "rescued" by my grandma in her arms. My mother said that I was born prematurely and weakly during the Spring Festival when the sound of firecrackers was heard one after another. My grandmother was afraid that I would freeze to death if I stayed in this poor health center for one night, so she took me home overnight. Grandma used quilts to surround the heater and built a home "incubator" for me. When she was free, she would unbutton her clothes and put me in her arms. In this way, I got through the first incubation in my life. Winter.

I remember when I was a kid, my sisters and I would gather at my grandma’s house during the holidays. In the summer, grandma would put us in a single-tub washing machine and give us a bath. Several little kids would laugh and squeeze together; In winter, grandma was afraid that the heater in the house would be too hot and we would get angry, so she froze apples on the balcony, one for each of us at night. When we arrived in Laba, grandma put half a bottle of garlic cloves in the vinegar bottle, and then asked me to go to the grocery store downstairs to buy a bottle of vinegar. Grandma made Laba vinegar. The acetic acid has a slight garlic aroma. I use it during the Chinese New Year. Dip dumplings for a unique flavor. There are also the large braised pork slices with kelp and cabbage and the braised braised pork with tiger skin eggs that my grandma made for us. These are the flavors that I miss.

What I miss the most is the spicy noodles made by my grandma. The simplest few seasonings and hand-rolled noodles create a salty, spicy and endless aftertaste. After I started working, I rarely went back to my grandma's house. Every time I went, grandma would ask me what I wanted to eat. I definitely said "spicy noodles", and grandma said confidently: "What's the problem? Just wait!" So I Then he feasted. After my grandma passed away, I also tried to make it myself according to her method. I put what I put first and then what I put in. I strictly followed her steps and didn’t dare to go beyond them. However, I still couldn’t replicate the original taste, so I could only sigh with regret. : There is no such thing as spicy noodles!

? Grandma has never studied and is illiterate, but I always feel that she has a strong aura, is confident and brave, and there seems to be nothing to fear around her. She led me through the deserted nursery and picked up a wooden stick in her hand. I asked my grandma what she was doing with it. She smiled and said, "Hit the dog!" I then plucked up the courage to follow my grandma, not afraid of anything. Sometimes, when the children have some minor troubles, she will wave a kitchen knife in the kitchen, curse and speak in a strong tone, as if she is quarreling with someone. Whenever this happens, I am confused and don't know who grandma is angry with.

My grandfather passed away when I was about three years old. My grandma was not yet fifty years old at that time, but she did not choose to remarry, but lived alone for nearly forty years. Although her children's lives are stable, she still insists on working outside the home. She once saw a bathhouse in a factory. At that time, there were no bathing centers all over the street. If the workplace did not have a bathhouse, it would be difficult to take a bath. Grandma secretly smuggled us into the factory to take a bath in the bathhouse while she was on duty. Grandma's hands are very strong, so I am particularly afraid of her giving me a bath, but I can't escape every time.

My grandma is not a gentle person, she is even a bit strict, so I was a little afraid of her when I was a child. My grandma lived alone, and she had not yet prayed for her baby at that time. Every Saturday, she would pick me up and take me to her house after get off work. When I was in elementary school, I was just having fun. When I went to my grandma's house, it was just the two of us. I always found it monotonous and boring, so I always tried to find ways to escape. One time after school was early, I walked to my mother's work, thinking that I would not be at home when my grandma came to pick me up, so she left. But when I got home with my mother, I found my grandma sitting at the door of the house waiting for me, and I also I had to go with my grandma obediently. Instead of taking me home directly, she went to the market and bought me eucalyptus pears. When she got home, she cooked for me and let me watch my favorite TV programs. That was the first time I felt that grandma seemed to be trying to please me, and I vaguely felt her need for me.

As my grandma got older, she no longer worked, but she could never stay idle. She opened a vegetable garden in the abandoned garden in front of her house and planted various side dishes, including beans and peppers. Not to mention cucumbers, she also planted loofah, which is not commonly grown in the north. She took care of the vegetable garden carefully, as if she was taking care of a bunch of children.

An old lady in her seventies, with gray hair, squatted among the vegetable seedlings, picking grass. Because it had not rained for a long time, she was holding a basin of water in both hands, and a kettle filled with water hung in one of her hands. Collect water from upstairs to water the ground. Seeing this scene, I hurried to pick it up, but she urged me to get away and insisted on carrying it to the vegetable field. She also laughed at me and said that I couldn't carry it. The best vegetable growing in the garden is cowpea, which is slender and tender. It is planted on the outermost side of the garden and is praised by everyone who walks by.

When my life was hit hard, I didn’t know why, but I wanted to visit my grandma. The moment I walked in and saw my grandma, tears immediately flowed down my face. I called out "milk" and I didn’t know. Say anything more. Grandma waved her hand at me to signal me not to say anything. I saw her eyes turn red too. Although she was speechless, I could see from her expression that she understood all my difficulties.

Grandma said that she had never been sick in her life. She only had appendicitis once and had to take injections for a few days. In my heart, grandma is always healthy and strong. It wasn't until I learned that my grandma had lung cancer that I realized that such a powerful soul sometimes ages and becomes weak. I took the baby to visit my grandma. The baby gave her a big apple, and she smiled from ear to ear. At that time, grandma could no longer walk around very much. She was sitting on the sofa covered with a quilt, but her spirit was still strong and her speech was still sonorous. So powerful, you want to go down to the ground and make spicy noodles for me! This is an old lady who has been trying to be strong all her life!

The pain of lung cancer is unimaginable. My grandma was admitted to the hospital, and I asked my friend who is a doctor to take care of her. But at this time, for an old man over eighty years old, there is no good treatment plan. The only way is to reduce the pain. My friend told me that painkiller injections can be given, but there is no telling which one will just let the pain disappear. . I listened, feeling extremely heavy but helpless. At this time, grandma was suffering from illness and was already as thin as a stick. Her eyes no longer had any charm. She would sit up and gasp for air after lying down for a while, and she could no longer eat. After trying to be strong all her life, she finally collapsed.

As time goes by, it has been more than three years since grandma passed away, but everything about her has never faded. The blood and family ties will not be diluted by life and death, and apart from missing us, we can only comfort this hard work with a good life. An old man who has been strong all his life.