(I was awake because I was hoping to catch the Sherlock stream again (on a site with no chat to lag the stream, yay!) so I woke up at three. The episode finished not too long ago, so now I'm continuing this post at six in the morning.) Anyway, two posts in a week, wa-hey!
Sometimes I see posts on Tumblr about why we should talk to the elderly. Well, yesterday on Sunday, an old lady approached
me! I don't know if I should talk about her here, because some bits are a bit personal, but I thought that I should record this down because of writing purposes. I mean I know I shouldn't just see people as just "things" to write about, but writers write based on experience - and being a sixteen-year-old, I almost have none, so I could learn a bit from her.
When I went back to church for a choir meeting of sorts. There's a new plan for all the different choirs to come together once a month for some spiritual discussion... That kind of thing. Anyway, I was dropped off half an hour early because my mum was heading off for her some meeting in Hougang. I was sitting downstairs in our canteen, waiting for the meeting to start, until I noticed some of my catechism classmates at another table. I thought it would be nice to go and chat with them, since I've always felt a bit awkward to be alone at times... Anyway, I was about to get up, when a little old lady sat down next to me, and just started talking!
I don't know how she knew I was here for the choir meeting, but she just started chatting, saying that there weren't any chairs in the room yet. I pointed out to her that it was still early, so they chairs probably weren't arranged yet. She then followed up by saying that she's
always early. When her children tell her what time to visit them, she always goes early. She's not even punctual - she just goes earlier than expected! She says that this way, there's no worry, no rush, which is dangerous at her age, since she could fall.
She paused for awhile. I guess this is when I describe her! Her skin looks a bit tanned, had short, silver hair, with a bit of black still on its ends, hands smaller than mine, and eyes so black, that I can't help but think she's seen a lot in her lifetime.
All of a sudden, she starts talking about herself. I mean I don't know why she would - I didn't even think she would approach me, except maybe for inquiring about the choir meeting. But I think she's quite talkative! She's eighty-two years old, Hakka, and is in one of our choirs (obviously). She then went on saying that her father died when she was one, and her mother left her at the convent soon after. She was fostered in that convent, surrounded by the nuns. When she grew up, she intended to become a nun, just like the ones she grew up around with. At the age of nineteen, she entered the nunnery - but only stayed for two years.
It seems like she didn't actually know how strict life was at the nunnery, considering she was still only nineteen. Her mother superior was extremely strict, painfully blunt, and quite aloof. All the nuns in training sat in silence, doing what, I'm not sure, because it seemed like they couldn't do anything! She tried asking for a pencil from one of the other nuns-in-training, only to discover that she got in trouble because she hadn't told mother superior. Mother superior called her too proud, just because she didn't "open up" - but it was just a mere bloody pencil!
I mean I'm not that surprised to hear the harsh, clinical life of the nunnery. I think my dad said my grandmother wanted to become a nun at some point, before becoming a nurse. She couldn't visit her friends, and even if she was visited, they had to talk through a gate - quite like behind bars. Needless to say, I think she couldn't handle it and ended up leaving. Just like the little old lady said, it was worse than being a prisoner. I mean I'm not saying that life of chastity, self-control and sacrifice that the nuns live is horrible, but I think at the time, it was a true test of endurance and patience, and whether you're fit to serve in the church wholeheartedly.
Anyway, our dear old lady ended up leaving the nunnery when she as twenty-one. She was sent with no goodbyes from the other training nuns, and was quickly bundled into a taxi by the mother superior, with everything packed and in the boot. She was sent to a separate convent in her home village, I think, where she spent a couple of years preparing girls for their first holy communion. When they were ready, she intended to give some holy pictures that she had while in the nunnery - only to discover that mother superior had taken them all! It was then that she went on a mission all the way back to the nunnery, and called for mother superior at the gate. It was then that she said that mother superior couldn't control her anymore since she's out, and mother superior gave her back her pictures.
She was about to go on about how she met her husband, (at the age of 24) but I think she said some things in dialect. I think it was about how he was introduced to her by her godmother, and that maybe he was too old or something - I'm not too sure. She went on saying that she was so young, how could she have known, or something to that effect, but then we were told to go inside for the meeting.
I didn't get to sit next to her because she ended up sitting with her choir members. Speaking about that, she seems rather friendly and very talkative. When our priest came by while she was telling me her life story, she stopped him to have a quick chat, and gave him some fruits! She seems in the know about her choir members, one of whom I know as a fellow catechist of my mum. She seems very friendly with kids too - she waves and smiles at little children who watch her as they walk past. Even she herself had said that when she was thinking about leaving the nunnery, she prayed to ask God for guidance, and she was told to leave, and instead use her gift elsewhere. I think she's found her gift, which is to share her stories with others.
Anyway, I didn't really manage to talk to her after the meeting - I don't even know her name or the name of the choir! I guess that's just me, talking to people who don't leave their names... I never expected myself to have an almost-half-an-hour chat with an elderly person before. Then again, not a lot of them are that chatty, otherwise, I have no idea what to talk about.
Anyway, I'm going to re-watch Sherlock now, since the second half of it buffered a lot for me.
~Little Old Lady: lol~
Micaela c:
