An alternative sort of a family, set up, with a hired nurse's aide to help take care of grandma…and we three are, a family in our own, might! Translated…
The Grandmother, the Grandson, and the Indonesian Nurse's Aide, Di, Made a Patchwork Home at the Edge of a City Full of Lights & Noises
Never would I have imagined, that after majoring in Chinese for four years of university, I'd ended up as a translator of English and Taiwanese.
Because my grandmother was recovering in Taipei, and I was also in an internship, so, the two of us, with the Indonesia nurse's aide, Di, on the edges of the rowdy city, mixed and matched, and managed to, scrapbook out a home for us all. The very first job that Di had when she came here, was to care for my grandmother, at first, she didn't know a word of Chinese, while my grandmother doesn't speak Mandarin, but is quite articulate in her Taiwanese; the two of them, started, that game of, charades, and still couldn't, understand each other very much.
At this time, I, who knew a bit of both language and dialect, between the bridge to their, communication.
Grandma asked, why doesn't Di eat anything during the daytime? Ah, it's because of Ramadan, I'd told her, and sometimes, Di would ask what grandma wanted for breakfast tomorrow, I'd turned around to ask my grandma, and turned my head back to Di, told her, "she want to eat dumplings."
illustration from UDN.com
Maybe it's how she'd bottled up, and left home, Di would show the upset from her face, and started, mumbling to herself.
"Di's talking bad about me isn't she?", Grandma started, frowning. "no, she's worried about her own family back home is all." I'd, immediately, put an end to what may have been a full-blown, misunderstanding between the two of them. But most of times, we would, reach a, wordless sort of, harmony, in getting along.
Di loved children, every time she walked on the streets, seeing the children with balloons, breads in hand with the round cheeks, she'd started, grinning ear to ear, I guess that she must have a family back in Indonesia too. While grandma keeps eyeing the hotties, and she'd shared with me the good looking men she saw on her walks, and, she'd gotten back to her own youthful state. Di and grandma shared a dislike, dogs, the former because, in her religion, dogs are a symbol of impurity, for my grandmother, she'd felt that dogs have bad habits. And on this, the two, strangely enough, had shared, a complete, consensus on.
On Lantern Festival this year, the three of us took three dragon lanterns out on the roads, Di looked at the dragon that looked celebratory, and started smiling foolishly. And all those who'd passed us by, none had one in her/his hand, like in the entire city, only the three of us celebrated the Lantern Festivals.
"I…don't feel…right…", grandma stated, "I think I should, put up my lantern."
"What does it matter, so long as I like it. Who says we can't walk around with our, lanterns?", I'd, told.
A bit further on that walk, a family of five came out of the hotel, and the members had the lanterns in their hands, and they all greeted us passionately, we waved to them as well.
"Ahhhhhhhhh, so people DO carry their lanterns on walks!" it's as if, grandma suddenly understood something, looking at me, then at, Di, "the atmosphere is now, right!", "of course, it's Lantern Festival today!", I'd smiled and told her.
Let others think what they want to! After all, in this family, how many more days will we have together, to walk around with our, lanterns?
So, this, is on how the two of the grandmother and grandchild, plus one Indonesian hired nurse's aide became, a whole family, they live together, take care of each other, and, they'd celebrated the holidays with each other too!
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