Text: The Cottage of the Summer of Roses Narrator: Gao Miao Miao
My 93-year-old grandmother died in a nursing home, and it took three years from the time my grandmother was admitted to the nursing home to the time she died. My grandmother had five children, three sons and two daughters. According to the custom of the hometown, the grandmother is sent to the end of her life by her son when she is old.
So after my grandmother couldn't take care of herself, she lived with her three uncles. Uncle is an honest person, although he doesn't like to talk, and his personality is a little silent, but he is so filial to his grandmother that he has nothing to say, and he is also the best temper among the three uncles.
My grandmother is bedridden all the year round, and it is inevitable that she will be irritable. Sometimes her temper comes up, and she doesn't care about thirty-seven twenty-one, whoever takes care of her scolds whom, and throws things, and cooks a meal to send to her, she deliberately doesn't eat, saying that she can't move, and it's troublesome for her son and daughter-in-law, it's better to leave early, everyone is clean.
My grandmother would lose her temper from time to time, and when my uncle found out, he would take my grandmother's favorite hawthorn slices and some pastries and yogurt to coax my grandmother like a child. Grandma complained about him, but he also smiled and did not defend, and even stretched his face to his grandmother's hand and asked his grandmother to beat him.
Grandma is kind-hearted, and occasionally she loses her temper and does not deliberately embarrass her children, so she is naturally reluctant to fight, and then everyone finds out Grandma's temper, and they are all happy to her, Grandma is in a bad mood, either push her out for a walk, or let my mother and aunt come back to talk to Grandma, and Grandma's mood will soon improve.
It's a pity that the eldest uncle died of illness later, and the aunt was old, plus she had a wrist injury when she was young, so she couldn't do heavy work and couldn't take care of her grandmother, so her grandmother lived with the second and third uncles.
In the summer of the second year of my grandmother's life with my second uncle, my second uncle suffered a stroke and was hospitalized, and my second aunt went to the market to sell vegetables that day, and she didn't come back until noon, but fortunately, my cousin took the child back to her parents' house, and arrived at about ten o'clock, and found that something was wrong with my second uncle, so I hurriedly drove to the hospital.
The second uncle's stroke was not very serious, but he was limited to being able to wear clothes and shoes by himself, so naturally he couldn't take care of his grandmother. The third uncle opened a chicken farm in his hometown, and life was quite passable, but he and the third aunt had to be busy with the work of the chicken farm, but also had to take care of the two grandchildren, take the grandsons to and from school, and often eat breakfast and lunch together, and sometimes they could not eat the first meal until one or two o'clock in the afternoon.
The third uncle and the second uncle discussed and sent the grandmother to a nursing home. It's not that they are not filial, it's that the reality is here, and they have to do it. The two uncles also discussed this matter with my mother and aunt.
My mother and aunt both know about the situation of their family, although my grandmother has never left the countryside in her life, they also feel that the nursing home is not a home, and there is no home at home, but the second and third uncles really don't have the energy to take care of their grandmother anymore, so they can only agree.
In this way, in desperation, my grandmother was sent to a nursing home. At first, my grandmother was also unhappy, and kept crying on the way to the nursing home, saying that the eldest uncle was gone, and the second and third uncles didn't want to care about her. It is said that raising children to prevent old age, she raised 3 sons, but none of them were old age-proof, and she knew that she should not have given birth to 3 uncles in the first place.
The second and third uncles persuaded her to relax, not because they disliked her and sent her to a nursing home, but because they let her live a better life. The nursing home has someone to take care of, and he and his third uncle must go to see it often, so that she will not feel lonely.
Grandma was angry, she didn't listen to what anyone said, and the second and third uncles shook their heads helplessly.
But a month later, my grandmother fell in love with it. The food in the nursing home is good, three meals a day are on time, not only fruits and snacks, but also someone to take care of her diet and daily life. One person in the nursing home is responsible for taking care of three elderly people, which is just enough to take care of.
There are also activities in the nursing home in the afternoon, and my grandmother can chat with everyone and watch the show, and the life is quite fulfilling.
Every week, the three aunts and two uncles would take turns visiting her grandmother to bring her something delicious and what she needed. Although my grandmother couldn't move, she was also happy to see her children so filial. My mother and I went to visit her, and she used to tell us, "The nursing home is fine, you don't have to worry about me."
Although the nursing home is not a home, it is also a good home for grandma. She was quite happy there, and her complexion was much better.
It's a pity that everyone has a time when they are old. When my grandmother was 93 years old, she still couldn't carry it. When my grandmother died, it was more than ten o'clock in the evening, and the people in the nursing home found it during their night inspection, and my grandmother was still breathing weakly, but when she called her, her eyes could not be opened.
The people in the nursing home hurriedly called the third uncle, the third uncle and the third aunt were busy working on the chicken farm, at that time, the eldest cousin was doing business in the town, the third uncle called the eldest cousin first, and asked him to go first, if the situation was not good, he could be sent to the hospital as soon as possible.
On the way to the nursing home, my third uncle and aunt called my mother and aunt. That Saturday, I took my son back to your parents' house to visit my parents, and we were about to wash up and go to bed, when my mother cried when she received the call, and I heard the news of my grandmother's death, and my heart chuckled.
My mother and I only visited my grandmother half a month ago, and she looked pretty good at that time, but I didn't expect my grandmother to leave so suddenly.
My younger brother and sister-in-law were at home taking care of the children, and I drove my mother there overnight.
Along the way, my mother's tears never stopped, and I wiped my tears several times while driving. The loss of a loved one is an indescribable sadness.
When we entered the nursing home, the light in my grandmother's room was on, and we couldn't help but speed up our steps. Pushing open the familiar door, I saw the eldest cousin kneeling on the ground holding my grandmother's hand and crying, the second and third uncles were also crying, the eldest aunt also came, the second aunt and the third aunt were not there, and the eldest aunt said that they went to the street to buy something.
The mother walked to the side of the grandmother's bed, gently stroked the grandmother's cheek, and shouted over and over again: Mother, look at me, your daughter has come back to see you......
Listening to my mother's cries, I couldn't stop crying. The second aunt and the third aunt came back soon, and according to the customs of the countryside, they had to take advantage of the temperature of their grandmother's body to quickly put on their clothes and shoes. The second aunt took out the shroud, and the mother and the third aunt chatted softly while scrubbing their grandmother's body, as if their grandmother was still by their side.
After changing into the shroud, we took my grandmother back to our hometown.
The old house where my grandmother lived had not been inhabited for many years and was quite dilapidated. The roof tiles were a little loose, and the paint on the window lattices was mottled and peeling. The second and third uncles stood at the door and discussed where to stop. According to our rural customs, after the death of the elderly, they should stay at home for 3 days so that their relatives have a time to say goodbye.
The eldest cousin, as the eldest son, stood up on behalf of the eldest uncle at this moment, and said: "Just stop in my parents' house, although my father is no more, the home is still there."
Everyone had no objections, and they started to get busy. The aunts and uncles were busy packing up the house and making room for their grandmother's body. My mother and aunt stayed by my grandmother's side and silently accompanied her.
The second and third uncles wanted to discuss other matters, so they went to the gate. The eldest cousin also followed, and after a while, the second and third uncles were heard arguing. The second uncle's temper has always been more anxious, he excitedly dropped a cup, and the family was alarmed, and they all went to the door to see what was going on.
My grandmother couldn't be without one, so my mom asked me to take a look. I followed my aunt to the door, only to see that the second uncle was flushed with anger, and the third uncle lowered his head and didn't say a word. The eldest cousin's face was not very good-looking, and he threw down the phrase "Just do as I say", and then turned around and went to inform the people in the village about his grandmother's death.
I wondered a little, my grandmother passed away, and it was when the family united to do her funeral, how could there be a conflict at this time?
The eldest aunt was also in a hurry, and asked the third uncle what was going on and how it was like this, and the third uncle sighed, and then told the truth.
It turned out that the second uncle had spent a lot of money on medicine and medical treatment over the years, and he didn't have much savings, and the third uncle had just bought 100,000 yuan of feed, and he bought a small truck some time ago, and he didn't have much money in his hand, so he discussed that his grandmother's funeral would not be too grand.
The eldest cousin has been doing business in other places all these years and has saved some money in his hands, and he hopes that his grandmother's funeral will be decent, and the expenses will be shared equally between him and his second and third uncles. The third uncle felt that the eldest uncle was no longer there, and he couldn't let the eldest cousin bear it, otherwise where would he put his old face? Besides, the eldest cousin had already paid for his grandmother's expenses in the nursing home for the eldest uncle over the years, and he had done a good job.
But the eldest cousin disagreed, he not only wanted to do his filial piety for his grandmother, but also for his uncle. The second uncle felt that it was not easy for the eldest cousin to have this responsibility, and since he proposed it, he would do as he said.
The third uncle blamed the second uncle for being ignorant and blindly involved. The second uncle was originally more stubborn, and when he heard that the third uncle's younger brother counted him, he immediately became angry. The two of them quarreled word by word, and finally the second uncle was so angry that he dropped the cup.
When the aunts and uncles found out what was going on, they were all stunned. They thought it was because of the money, but they didn't expect it to be because of this. Everyone persuaded them one after another, asking the third and second uncles not to hurt their harmony for this little thing.
After a while, the eldest cousin returned. He also expressed his thoughts. The second uncle asked the eldest aunt's opinion, and the eldest aunt said that this was a part of the child's heart, so she agreed, otherwise the child would not feel good. You can earn more money after you spend it, and the most important thing is for the old man to walk decently.
In the end, everyone reached an agreement, the eldest cousin was in charge of the general coordination, and the second uncle, third uncle and aunt contacted by phone, busy with various details. The people of the village also came to help spontaneously, some were responsible for setting up the funeral tent, some were responsible for preparing meals, and some were responsible for receiving relatives and friends who came to pay their respects.
On the day of the funeral, many people came, and they all came to see my grandmother off for the last time.
My mother and aunt were relieved to see that my grandmother's funeral was a success. Uncle is gone, grandmother is also gone, but the heart of family unity has not dispersed, each has its own responsibility, over the years, uncles, aunts and cousins have been very good to their grandmother, and the funeral has been done very carefully, so it is enough.