ilubmoney

It was good to be back in LA the last few days. The thing that stood out the most in my mind this weekend was a brief period of time with my grandmother. It's probably safe to say that we haven't really spoken in years now for a few different reasons, but mostly I had developed a Vietnamese-language phobia for awhile that I only recently started really recovering from.

Anyway, my dad drove my grandparents and some of us kids to church on Saturday night. I greeted Ba and asked her how she was doing. She said she was doing okay, complained about some ailments but praised God every other sentence for still being alive. Oddly enough, she kept saying over and over how praying for years had finally blessed her with her two sons, my dad and my uncle (never mentioning her daughters, curiously enough). By the 10th mention of this, I asked her how old she was when she gave birth to my dad. "Ninety!" she giggled, then my dad interjected with, "No, she was 43 when she had me." Whoa!

My brother's mentioned how she's started giving unusual answers and reactions lately like that. I'm not sure if she's got dementia features, but I pray that it's not any form of dementia; aside from the strong genetic factor, watching a loved one suffer from it is indescribably painful. I'm still amazed that she had children after 40, though! This means that she's 92 this year.

Also, I got busy trying to impart some wisdom on my little sisters seeing as how I have some impact on them. This weekend, it was about the importance of trying to keep at least 2-3 months' worth of living expenses in one's bank account. I know Jenny's just turned 6 and all, but kids often absorb a lot more than you think they do. ;)