My fourth grandpa is my mom's dad's brother. My moms dad is the 2nd in his family vs. Tan is the fourth in his family thus fourth grandpa. "Tan" just clarified for me on this trip the relationship. I guess for me he was always as close to me as my grandpa maybe even closer since my grandpa, his brother, passed away when I was very little.
I was lucky my cousin Peng Peng came back from vacation already and was super sweet to drive us to see "tan" together. His family sees them once a year since they all live in Beijing.
"Tan" lives on the other side in Beijing university which is over an hour by subway from my hotel and 30 min by car. I felt quite grateful to be driven.
"Tan" still lives in the same residence as I remember as a little girl. Since they both had their careers at Beijing university all their life, it didn't make sense to move. Fourth grandma was a professor of English for many years and "tan" was the director of foreign affairs for Beijing university.
I can't believe tan is already 87 years old. To me, he is always and still is a very active animated grandpa. He loves telling stories of the old days and has an amazing memory. He is also full of humor as he talks about how the winning facilities asked him not to come back as he tells the lifeguard each time to watch out for him since he may have trouble getting out of pool. Its funny and sad to hear that for me. He loves to swim and I hope he will find a way to swim again. A new facility just got built next to him. He is clever and I hope he and grandma will go there and swim.
Fourth Grandma is 79 and looks great as well. I am so glad to find out she no longer has severe asthma. She used to have really bad attacks and for some reason it's gone. She tells me its maybe because of the type of food they eat. Fourth grandma is always welcoming and very decisive and insisted we eat lunch at home the day we visited.
Lunch was delicious and I am glad to see they get part time help. The help cooked with grandmas direction and I am sure grandma's recipe. Nothing is better than home cooked meal. We had dish soup, pork with this white veggie that I hogged, carrots with mushroom, and egg with another melon. Less oil, healthy and yummy. I ate a lot and will probably gain a few pounds by the end of this trip. It will be well worth it.
We also took a walk around the grounds. They live on the third floor and I can't believe they can climb up and down those stairs every day. Grandma also still rides a bike and was riding as we walked since her right leg hurt a bit.
I didn't want to go and was really bummed that my hotel is so far away from them. It will be hard to see them again on this trip. At Least I can call him often. He is always so happy and animated with me. Many fond moments.
Lei
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