94 AND DONE

Grandma's Old Beater is still beating up to now.

​Grandma Frank passed away quietly a few weeks ago, like a ship sailing in the night.

She was 94 turning 95 this year.

With four children, five grandchildren, and one great grandchild, she had a blast. 

Having her is such a blessing. 

I would say I'm more blessed than the family because I was a granddaughter married to her grandson. 

I have the great fortune for being part of her last ten years. 

I met Grandma Frank in the summer of August 2015 when we were preparing for the wedding. 

She gave us our first stove which was replaced a few months ago courtesy of the local appliance store.

She visited my daughter n the hospital when she was two-days old and gifted us with a baby bath tub. 

She was warm-hearted, very polite as any person who lived almost a century would, and a brilliant conversationalist.

My daughter loves her stories. They really evoke certain imaginaries in your mind. She will take you back to 1920s gladly and with such passion. 

She was also very prim and proper. A relative of mine noticed during our wedding that she was seated with her hands on her lap to straighten the skirts from creasing too much.

"Oh how proper you are," my relative told her. And she said, "Of course, we have to be, always." That mischievous grin will always make you wonder if she's up to something.

She was famous for her 'Chicken recipe," which if I have more time, will give away for free. This chicken recipe caused a lot of excitement every time we cook the dish at my sisters' house. My niece and nephew which are now 20 and 15 years old, respectively don't tire of eating this at every occasion it's served. My nephew from the Philippines would want this to be packaged and sent out to Manila if possible. Mind you, he eats voraciously even now as a young man but eight years old, this kid had a great helping of the dish to the misfortune of others. But I won't tell how many drumsticks got dunked. 

But still, Grandma Franks' recipe beats all the Filipino, Korean, and Canadian knock-offs.

I've tried my best to get close to mastering her dish but my husband thinks Grandma Frank's original cooking is still unbeatable. I realized I may never get that close, although I have had many years of practice ever since. 

However, Grandma Frank would always say, "It's okay to do your own thing with the recipe. What matters is that you've tried to make it work. I just learned it from someone. So it's not that original."

You can't beat 94 years.

And I would wonder, if we can all get to that age with our sanity intact, like she did. 

If you ask me what I've learned from knowing and observing Grandma lived her life, I had a lot of that, which I have barely let loose underneath. 

And just like that, in the quietness of the moment, this great lady is gone and but will never be forgotten.


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