If you're feeling stressed or depressed at the moment it's probably a good idea to stop reading this post now.

*waves big distracting flag that will allow you to go back to whatever else you were doing*

So. Pops passed away last week. Mum's flying down to Melbourne for the day tomorrow to attend the funeral.

Ok, so maybe I should explain a little context. Way back in the '70s when mum was working and studying in Melbourne she went to this party where she made friends with Lola and Roy (aka Nana and Pops). They became her 'Aussie' parents - Pops even 'gave away' mum when she had her wedding (hmmm... Wow, I've never asked about it, but it must'ave been way too expensive for the Malaysian family to come over - and mum and dad had a small wedding anyhow I think). All in all Nana and Pops are our Aussie 'grandparents' (And they're probably closer to us than any of our blood relatives).
Being married for 60+ years (wow!) it must have been really hard for Nana as Pops got alzheimers and gradually forgot everything, even her. With his body still going strong it wasn't until a stroke a couple of weeks before we went down that Pops was immobilised, bed stricken, dependant on the staff of the nursing home for every little thing. Not being forced to consume enough fluid, it was only a matter of time till his kidneys packed up, which brings us up to his condition at the start of last week.

Ok, so I currently have 4 living "grandparents" - 'gua-ma' (mum's mother), 'gua-kong' (mum's father), 'grandma' (which would be 'ah-ma' if we used the traditional address), and 'Nana'. Don't ask me why only Nana is capitalised, there's no logic behind it.

I visited Grandma on the weekend. What a change! Last I saw her she was, albeit a little tired, still capable of feeding herself, asking us questions and voicing up her opinion of things. Mind you that was just a little after I got back. It's hard to conceive all the elements of old age. Well, at least I can find comfort in the fact that Gua-ma and Grandma are Christian.
Hmmm. Well, there's a lot more left unsaid, and that's probably the way it should be. I don't wanna get old! Shilpa, if you're reading this, we might want to consider shifting our Thelma and Louise stunt back a bit from 2089... :P
And wahh for Pops.