It’s been ten years since grandma passed away but she is always in my heart as if she never left me.

That was a cloudy day. I came back from school and found many neighbours gathering in our house. Then I saw mum. When the word that your grandma passed away came out from her month, I suddenly burst into tears like the whole world was falling apart.

It’s grandma who took care of me when I was little because Dad was busy making money to support the family and mum always stayed in my maternal grandma’s home. In cold winter, grandma would warm my clothes with her body temperature before puting them on me. In hot summer, she would shake her palm-leaf fan to drive away mosquitoes and bring coolness to me.

She never wasted a grain of rice. She would go to field picking up ears of rice left by farmers. She would go to forest collecting fire woods to cook me a tasty meal. Her clothes and socks were full of patches but never looked ugly.

She got up early in the morning almost everyday. By the time I woke up, the house had been cleaned and breakfast was ready. She ran a vegetable garden, surrounding which there were lush rose of Sharon and holly, and in which there were all kinds of well-grown vegetables. Soil scarifying, seeding, fertilizing and watering were all done by her. In summer, I had cucumber, tomatoes and melon as fruit. In winter, I enjoyed radish, spinach, cabbage…I miss all these natural food.

When I was in preschool, my final exam grade was not as high as other peers and I felt ashamed. It’s grandma who told me not to be and encouraged me to work hard. And I didn’t let her down since then. My peers used to made fun of me for I was not as good looking as them. It’s grandma who kept telling me that I am beautiful and beauty is not always about appearance we also need to have a beautiful heart.

My cousin Hong was my best playmate when I was little. One afternoon, when we were playing at the back yard, I said something which offended her. She became silent and didn’t talk to me since then. I was so stubborn that I was unwilling to apologize though I knew I was wrong and I felt lonely without playing with her. It’s Grandma who came to me and said gently with a gracious smile, “Honey, go talk to Hong. I know you two are best friends. Sometimes we need to have the courage to admit that we are wrong.” She was right. Everything can go back to normal or even better with just a simple sorry, all you need is courage.

Grandma was an ordinary traditional Chinese woman, but to me she was a great teacher. She let me know these words—thrift, hard working, kind, confident, honest and brave-which serves as a useful guide in my life.

Grandma was gone but I know she is in a better place. I miss her dearly.