It's four years now my grandfather, my mother's elder brother, died, but he lived over 100 before he died. He died at the age of 105. Since my mother's biological father died, he has been the one representing her father. And he has been doing well. But he died; we visited him six years ago during the December period to celebrate Christmas with him. When we got home, we were told he was in the farm. Like seriously, this man still went to farm at that age. That is how strong Grandpa was; he was so strong that he was a farmer till his old age.
Many times he would send his farm produce to us, and he reared chickens too. He would always send us chickens during Christmas. He owned a big farmland with people always helping him out to work and harvest. But even without the helpers, he could do 50 percent of the work himself. In fact, if his town needed any advice or a long-time story, they would always go to him because they knew he was old and wise. Some of his mates had died, so he was respected.
That year, 2019, we visited him in his farm, my siblings and I. My mum and others stayed in a nearby distance, about 30 minutes' journey to where my grandfather stayed. My mum drove; he didn't allow my brother to drive because he knew he drove roughly. We explored his farm, plucked some fresh fruits and vegetables, and enjoyed it. One thing I learned from him was that he was not lazy; he got a lot of profit from his farm produce, so he didn't have to call his children for money before he could eat or buy things – only the ones they gave him willingly.
I was still in school when I was told he died, though he was old, but I was in pain because he was the only one left for my mum as a father figure after her biological father had died a long time ago. Now we don't go there as we used to again because all his other children, some of them are not living in the town again, and everyone has chosen their path.
Now, anytime my mum visits her town, she just concentrates on what she went there for, not like before when she would go to the house to greet everyone. It's a significant change.
Anytime we pass by our home now, we just look and say "home sweet home," but it's no longer the same. Tenants are the ones living in our house now.
Death really makes a home scatter. I remember on Grandpa's birthday, we would celebrate with all the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren coming home to celebrate. But now, there's no one to come home to, to celebrate with. Grandpa was the purpose of our coming together, but now he is no more. And I seriously miss him for that. I pray that his gentle soul continues to rest in peace. Amen.
All pictures is mine.