My grandmother’s memory
I just wanted to share a quick story about my grandmother. What an awesome woman she was. She was actually quite famous in Qatar for her Achar (it’s a type of vinegared tomato and vegetables with chilis). It takes up to a month to get it right because you have to leave it on the rooftops out in the sun in a jar to get it just right.
I remember when I had graduated from highschool and had decided to become a lawyer. Everybody was so excited that I was going to England, and they had all parted with their own little pearls of wisdom.
Dad: “Don’t be afraid to try new things and don’t be suprised when you go buy a cucumber.” (I thought about that one myself and was suprised when I saw you buy half a cucumber in the shops for the price of a whole box here in Qatar. The message though was don’t be suprised by new cultures.)
Aunt: “If you find a nice girl. Don’t bring her home! I’ve got the one just for you.” (No thanks I answered, I pick who I want.)
Uncle: “Study hard and if you get a chance, travel around to see the world a bit.” (I did and I did.)
So here it came, the day of my travels. It was at 7 am and my father had his own business trips and the rest of my family were in Bahrain at the time. My aunt was sleeping and since I was leaving from Qatar I was staying at my grandfather’s house.
At 5 am I got up and got ready and expected to be heading on my journey with a sad feeling of lonliness. I walked into the kitchen and saw my grandmother sitting there. She had gotten up for me and made me breakfast. She told me stories of how she cried when each one of her sons had gone off to uni and how proud she was of me more than anyone. She also told me that she wouldn’t be crying for me because I’d be doing more good in the world that it would be a shame to waste tears.
“Are you really set on being a lawyer?”, she asked. “Yes why?”, I answered. “Can’t you be a doctor?”, she replied. At the time I didn’t really think of the reason she asked me that. I just casually said “I don’t like the sight of blood and I think law will challenge me.”. She smiled and didn’t say much after that.
She saw me off at the door and I went off to university. Two years later, my family didn’t tell me this because they didn’t want me to lose focus, but my grandmother was dieing of cancer. It hit me. No. It slapped me in the face. She wanted her grandson to be a doctor to cure her… What an idiot I was.
She came to London to the best hospital, but even they couldn’t help her. She asked for me, so I travelled to London to be by her side. What was once quite a healthy vibrant woman was so thin and stretched on the bed barely able to move. I went by her bedside and held her hand. A tear fell from her eye. I felt sorry for the person i saw in front of me, but no tears.
I didn’t cry going back. I didn’t cry for a few days actually. It was one random day when I was in Tesco (a supermarket) that the floodgates opened. I couldn’t control myself. The emotion just came at me like a tidal wave. I couldn’t stop until I remembered my grandmother’s words. She had done so much good in the world that it would be a shame to waste tears. God rest her soul.
Why am I sharing this? I wanted people to see an example of how the Qatari family reacts and wanted to share the memory of my grandmother.
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