My Dua-Yi Is Dying...

My dua-yi is my oldest aunt. My mom's oldest sister of 10 kids...

It's hard... I get my updates from my brother, my mom and lately, from Jaime (my dua-yi is her grandmother)... it's hard to fathom how a woman who just celebrated her 80th birthtday this past May was just fine, has deteriorated into a state of unconscious pain. Morphine. Lots of it. It's cancer... all over. Her internal organs are no more in working order. Hands, swollen... The doctor's said she hasn't got a week. It's painful to think, it's even more painful to write. YK (her grandson) just graduated from the local polytechnic. The first graduate in her family. A huge accomplishment! He brought his first girlfriend to his grandmother's bedside last week... she didn't get to see them. She hasn't been up in the last few days.

But this is to you dua-yi! For all the overnight stays at your house while mom and dad went out partying. For all the great weekends I spent at your house while everyone else hung out at your tiny little two bedroom flat playing mahjong. For all the times I slept on your old narrow couch with people dropping in and out of the flat for a meal; gossip... For all the awesome awesome food you cook! For that damned big black eye I got from running around at your house in my socks singing the Bonanza theme and knocking right into the corner of your coffee table. For all the times you took me to the wet market. For all the times I washed and dried dishes at your house. For all the precious moments just watching you grow old with grace. For making me watch your grandchildren while you played mahjong with mom. For all the laughs we had. For the trip to Taiwan, HK and the Phillipines we all took together.

It's been five years since I last saw you. Forever, my momeries of you being the matriarch of the Teo-family (and obviously, your Chua-family), the tough, loud, funny, fierce but gentle aunt will remain. You will not be forgotten.