Grandmother

She was old and mind riddled with dementia, confined to bed and cared for by my aunt…those are my personal memories of my maternal Grand Mother… She had been a quiet housewife who looked after my mum and her sisters to the best of her ability.  I’ve not heard any brave or heroic deeds done by her and hardly remember her speak,  but amazingly it’s  in her I see a role model to aspire to….in answer to my query about my Grand Mother, my mother’s brief but unchanging answer is… “she cared for the four of us and my father, went to the temple, used to offer Dana to the wandering mendicants who used to sometimes take shelter in the area. She hardly went around visiting neighbours  … NEVER TALKED ABOUT ANY ONE AND NEVER EVER LISTENED IN ON GOSSIP… SHE JUST WAS NOT INTERESTED, used to always read books…” simple words about a simple woman who bore a lot of hardship in life without voicing her opinions aloud, trained her children to follow her Husband’s religion, made sure they attended church and was brought up in a catholic environment whilst quietly following her own Dhamma…Somehow I find this character enticing. I also remember my father’s words about her…. Again, the same recurring description when ever recalling his Mother-in-Law …. “She was a great Lady” ……… A life well lived?