Reminising Childhood Memories

On Sunday, I received news that Ming Sao Po Po has passed away. I was just talking about visiting her the week before.

She was an elderly grandmother who occassionally visited us in my mother's shop in the past. I was still in Primary school at that time. She would always fish out sweet from her bag when she saw my brother or me. Sometimes there were Sarsi sweets, sometimes coconut sweets... I knew that she bought them especially for us and was touched. She treated us just like we were her grandchildren. I still have a vivid memory of her taking out sweets for us in my Mom's shop.

Her passing away really stirred up a lot of emotions and memories in me. Growing up in my Mom's shop, I had come across many people who eventually passed on. I can still remember the ah pek from next-door electrical shop. He used to play skipping with us. He and my brother would spin the rope and I would jump in the skipping rope game. Sometimes, I would sit beside him outside his shop and we would watch tv together. He only knew how to speak Hakka and sometimes, we would talk but neither of us truly understood each other. He passed away a few years ago.

I could still remember this auntie. She used to work in the old Bukit Timah market. My family and I would go for Zi Char and she would always serve us Barley water. I can still remember she used to wear floral printed, shapeless dresses that reached her ankles. I saw her picture in the temple last year.

It seems that the people who played a part in my childhood are leaving one by one. They have turned into people whom I can only visit in my memories. While I was growing up, they are growing old. I do not want to grow up if this is the catch.