Grandpa

My grandpa (technically 外公 but he preferred to be called 爷爷) died this week. He was the last grandparent I had left remaining. I don't remember him very well. I only have a few stand out memories of when I lived in China. I remember he used to pick me up from kindergarten sometimes on his bicycle. I remember he disapproved of lollies with food colouring and preservatives and he once refused to buy me sweets that were multicoloured. I remember he used to spend time with me and my cousin and showed us these little models of animals that were made of wood or precious stones or something. I think he taught me and my cousin how to shuffle a pack of cards. That's about all I remember from when I was little. I visited him during family trips later when I was 12 and again when I was 21 but by then he was deaf and didn't communicate very much. He wrote me a letter once when I was in uni, but it was in Chinese so I had to get mum to help me read it.

My grandpa was the sixth child of eight children and the only son. His father was a lawyer/minister of the Qing Dynasty and part of the last emperor's court. He was also a revolutionary in the 1911 Chinese Revolution. My grandpa's mother was a traditional wife with bound feet but very wealthy and apparently very intelligent. Grandpa was educated in Austria and was fluent in German. He became a doctor and optometrist when he returned to China. He participated in the Hundred Flowers campaign and was persecuted as a bourgeoisie and intellectual during the Cultural Revolution. When I harp on about history and politics, mum says I sound just like grandpa.

Last week he had a stroke and diagnosed himself with aphasia by writing it on a piece of paper in English. He lost the use of his right side and the ability to talk, but he didn't want to die in hospital so stayed at home with the help of two of my aunts and a carer. Two days ago he died at home. Today we burnt incense for him and said goodbye.