ANC 40: Understanding

117. Hiking to Understanding.

My grandmother seemed to care about me too much. "Do you want me to cut some apples?" "Do you like Kimchi soup?" "Some oranges?" "Any biscuits?" "Have some juice" "Try some of this... and that..." Asking me series of questions, my grandmother kept on moving around instead of taking a rest. I felt uncomfortable. Every night, she says that her legs are not how they used to be before; her legs hurt and feel numb at some point of time. Yet she keeps on standing in the kitchen, doing something or the other. I could not understand her. I told her several times to stop working and rest. But she would not listen to me. 

One evening, my grandmother seemed to be busier than any other day. She worked in the kitchen the whole night. I was mad at the fact that she was hurting herself more. So I told her to stop working but my grandmother only replied by telling me to go to bed. Lying on the bed, I couldn't sleep quickly with the noise in the kitchen and the thought that grandmother will complain the next day. 

The next morning, the breakfast table seemed to be bigger than usual. I glanced at it. There was bean soup. I was surprised to see such a time consuming soup on breakfast table. It didn't take long for me to realize that grandmother had been making this soup the whole night. I asked her, "Wow, how come you made this soup?" Her reply was just one sentence short. "I remember you saying that you love this soup." 

Only then did I realize that grandmother can't stop working because of her love for her family including me. Her love is so great that she can't control. Even if she is tired and even if we tell her several times to stop working, she just can't because her mind is full of making stuff we like. Then I understood each an everything she did. As my mom said, it was like a habit that my grandmother kept on working for us till now, for many, many years.