Grandmother's back
◎ Yang Peng
Since I can remember, my grandmother's back has been slightly curved, and I may have been crushed by the complicated life. However, the ordinary and curved back is recorded with stories full of vicissitudes.
When I was very young, my parents didn't have time to take care of me at work, so they sent me to my grandmother's house. My grandmother had to take care of my bedridden grandfather while I was looking after me. My memory of my grandmother's house has long been blurred, but I vaguely remember that although my grandmother is very busy, whenever I have time, I will bend down and carry me to play in the yard, I lie on her back, I feel that it is soft, warm, big, wide, very safe, the sky on the back looks extra blue, the flowers and grass under the back smell extra fragrant... Now that I think about it, that slightly curved back was the source of happiness in my childhood.
When I was a little older, I wouldn't live at my grandmother's house, but I would often hang out with my cousins. As soon as we go, like a horse that has taken off its reins, we will throw aside the troubles of our hearts and design all kinds of interesting games, or hide and seek, or play poker, or blindfold people, or play irregularly, playing around in a circle, and having a lot of fun. When waiting for the New Year, it is even more lively, from the first to the second day of the New Year, a few of our brothers will hold their strength, rush from all directions to my grandmother's house, worship the New Year, collect red envelopes, eat good meals, set off fireworks, make a mess, and laugh together. Every now and then, my grandmother would always hunch her back to the side and watch silently, laughing, not letting the adults restrain us. I was worried that a few of our cousins would accidentally tear down my grandmother's house one day, so it seems that even if the load-bearing column fell, there would be my grandmother's back on it.
In those years, my grandmother's back not only brought me happiness, but also sheltered me from the wind and rain, bringing me warmth. Once, I suddenly had a high fever at school, my parents couldn't come to work to pick me up, I didn't even think about it, I gritted my teeth and struggled to go to my grandmother's house, collapsing on the kang. My grandmother gently put a wet towel on my forehead, boiled me rice porridge, and when she saw that my illness had worsened, she locked the door and led me to the community clinic. On the road, the sky was overcast, the clouds were thick, the autumn wind blew the leaves scattered, the wind and sand were blinding, and I really couldn't walk. When my grandmother saw this, she gritted her teeth and said, "Come, come to my back, I will carry you!" "I collapsed on my grandmother's back, hanging my head down, my eyes slowly closed, only to feel that I was surrounded by endless darkness, neither screaming nor powerless to resist, only this back carried me forward, forward with weak and firm strength...
When I woke up, I found myself lying in a hospital bed, with my mother, who had just left work, standing by. I asked softly, "What about my grandmother?" ”
My mother touched my forehead and said excitedly, "Child, you are finally awake!" Your grandmother carried you here so easily, and there was no one in the house, so she hurried back to take care of your grandfather. I came to see you again in the afternoon before I left. ”
After listening to my mother, I was silent, and tears fell in a flurry of tears.
Years later, I deliberately retraced the road from my grandmother's house to the community clinic, thinking that this road was not long. However, at that time, for this old man and young man, how long it should have been!
After a few more years, my grandfather died. That day, I saw the old wall clock in the house stop, my grandfather lying motionless on the kang, and my grandmother quietly standing by his side, with her back to us, her shoulders slightly trembling. That day, for the first time, I noticed that my grandmother's back was so thin, so tired, so narrow. At that moment, I tried to recall the image of a strong grandmother, and I could not recall when she had been strong.
Soon after, I went to middle school, and as my schoolwork increased, I went to my grandmother's house less often, but I would visit her every New Year's Day. Suddenly, one day, my grandmother was seriously ill, and after the illness, she could only walk on crutches, and her back became more curved, but she did not succumb to fate, and every day she got up at dawn and walked back and forth around the yard on crutches, for decades as a day. Several times, I went to visit her, and I saw that she was insisting on exercising, and I couldn't help but give a thumbs up to the strong back in my heart!
A dozen years have passed, and several of our cousins (and little cousins) have established a family, however, every year on the second day of the first year, we rush back from all directions, go to my grandmother's house to party, pay homage to the seven aunts and eight aunts, but no longer fight, just quietly hold my grandmother's hand to chat about the past, looking for childhood memories. Because my grandfather's family is surnamed Jia, once my mother compared my grandmother to "Jia Mu" in "Dream of the Red Chamber", which made everyone happy and blossomed. However, in the midst of laughter, it occurred to me that my mother was right: Why can we people get together? Why do we have a "New Year's Day" complex? It is precisely because for so many years my grandmother has been silently supporting the whole family with her curved back, maintaining the whole big family.
On the second day of the first half of this year, I was deeply sorry that I could not return to my grandmother's house to visit her, and I always wanted to write down my grandmother's appearance and remember it in my heart. Now, writing this, I have already blurred my tears, so, in a trance, I see her curved and tough, thin and strong, narrow and broad back, which is carrying me to overcome the difficulties of the surroundings, forward, forward, forward...
(The picture in this article is provided by the author, if there is any infringement, please inform and delete)
About the Author
Yang Peng, a native of Zhucheng City, Shandong Province, is now teaching in Penglai City, loves literature, and insists on recording his life with his favorite words. Several essays have been published in micro-periodical newspapers such as "Penglai Today" and "Fusheng Ruocha Literature Supplement". He is currently a member and editorial board member of Yantai Prose Literature Society. A member of the Penglai Writers Association and an editorial board member of the literary supplement of "Floating Life Ruocha", he is willing to do his own modest efforts for the spread of Yantai culture.
One point number Yantai prose