大家平安就好。

It's bad news in the family one after another. Just less than a week after my granduncle's demise, my god grandma suffered a heart attack and was warded .

God granny, or in the teochew dialect "Lao-Mm", is my dad's godmother. She loves my Dad more than his own mother loves him. And perhaps that's where I felt the attachment towards her, even though we hardly met.

And there she was, her 94 yr-old body lying calmly on the hospital bed in SGH corononary care unit. She was awake and alert, thankfully. Unlike her usual self, she spoke little. She had no appetite for anything. But when mom fed her cherries, she reluctantly took a few.

Her organs are failing, and it would pose greater danger for her to undergo a bypass surgery. So she's living on medication. It's a painful struggle. But she is brave. As we were leaving the ward, mom assured her she'll be fine. And she finally spoke.

"別管我，大家平安就好。"

For a long time after we left, Lao-Mm's words kept ringing in my ears.