{"id":3577,"date":"2016-10-13T06:31:12","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T06:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.averral.com\/blog\/?p=3577"},"modified":"2016-10-13T06:31:12","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T06:31:12","slug":"grand-aunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.averral.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/grand-aunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Aunt"},"content":{"rendered":"
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She laid asleep
\nIn a rest she will never wake up from
\nYet her boisterous laughter resonates
\nHer large presence now stilled by the
\nSilence of the church halls
\nMaybe maybe she would open her eyes
\nAs youthfulness returns to her pale skin
\nBut she won’t open her eyes no more
\nThey will remain closed, as the coffin encloses her within. Her ashes will burn and she would return to earth without saying goodbye.
\nOnly the living can say, farewell
\nFarewell farewell. You will be missed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

My grandaunt has been the inspiration behind the White Queen figure. She was plump and had a loud voice. You could hear her voice from below the apartment complex to the top floor. She was the matriarch and was a strong prominent figure in society. She was unabashed about her absurd requests and demands on others. And somehow, everything will go according to her way no matter how impossible it was. She would ask me to call her “grand aunt” in Cantonese and not “auntie”.<\/p>\n

Every Chinese new year I would fear meeting her and not getting her name right. She would scream loudly if I got her name wrong. But no matter what, she still gave me a red packet filled with dollar bills. She was proud of her achievements and would announce her entourage of children and grandchildren has arrived in an almost military style fashion in a big group. Yet, she was comical and loved to joke and had a laughter that was unmistakably hers. Around her, she filled the room up with love and concern in her larger than life ways that penetrated walls and defenses. She made everyone feel at ease that with her around, nothing will go wrong and we will be safe and looked after as part of her family.<\/p>\n

She will be dearly missed.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She laid asleep In a rest she will never wake up from Yet her boisterous laughter resonates Her large presence now stilled by the Silence of the church halls Maybe maybe she would open her eyes As youthfulness returns to her pale skin But she won’t open her eyes no more They will remain closed, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[445],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n