People talk about true love all the time, and they talk as if there will only be one true love in life. But within just a year I’ve lost two of my true loves. My grandparents. Just exactly around this time last year, I lost my grandmother and now my grandfather too. I’m 27 now and not once, I thought there will come a  day where I have to live without my grandparents. Watching people you love grow old is one of the heart-breaking things let alone them disappearing forever.

I spent so much time with them. Probably more time than most of the grandchildren would these days but still, I wish I had more time with them. I wish they had seen my life a little more. I wish I had more dinners with them. I wish I had told often how much I love them. I wish I could have done more for them.

I’m all grown up today, people say I’m confident and lovable. All thanks to my parents and my grandparents. They always made sure I always knew how capable and blessed I am. They have given me the best childhood.

But now when I see my grandparents’ house, the house is empty. That emptiness is horrible. The bed my grandfather used to sleep in is empty, the veranda is filled with empty chairs where my grandmom and granddad used to sit, there’s no one to ask if I want a tangerine when I go there. No calls and blessings on my birthday. No hugs or handholds.

They are not here anymore. Everything changed but yet everything is the same in a sense. All their lives, they had struggled for this family’s well-being and everything we are today is because of them. I’m so very proud of them. I remember saying this to my grandfather once and there was an almost imperceptible smile. Memories that fuel my heart.

The only wish they always had is for us to have good lives. Such a selfless wish. If I’m being practical it’s a silly wish, like taking all the trouble for themselves and wishing us all the happiness, but every parent and grandparent do that effortlessly.

If that isn’t true love, I don’t know what is.

This is not a sad note to say farewell to my grandfather, this is a thank you note to him for choosing me as his granddaughter, for coddling me so much, for dropping and picking me up from school, for coming to my examination centers to wish me good luck, for buying me snacks all the time, for saying that I can do anything, for saying anybody would be lucky to have me, and for just simply being there for us always.

I couldn’t wish for more.

Farewell.

Until we meet again in our next lives.

A big thank you to all the grandparents for their unconditional love. We may not say it, but we always appreciate every tiny thing you do for us. You will always live within us.