“Grandma, don’t leave me!” cried Ruby Chen with tears running down her chubby cheeks. “Who will take me to the park now? Who will bake me egg tarts on the weekends?”

“Ruby, sweetie, Grandma is going to a happy place. She won’t be in anymore pain” said Elizabeth Chen, her mother.

“Where is everyone?” shouted Timothy Chen with frustration. “They were suppose to be here an hour ago”

“It’s okay. As long as I am not alone when I go, I am already satisfied” Grandma Chen said while trying to wipe the tears from Ruby’s cheeks. She will miss her and her crazy little antics. Ruby is such an energetic child and it hurts that Grandma won’t be able to see her grow up.

“Ruby, grandma will be leaving soon. I won’t be able to be there for your eighth birthday in a couple of weeks, but I gave your mom your present. I hope you will like it. When you miss me, take out the present and talk to it like how you would with me. I’ll be there listening.”

“Do you promise grandma?” She asked sniffling.

“I promise. Have I ever broken a promise to you?”

“Yes. Many times. There was that time you promised that make me a strawberry shortcake and you ended up making me a chocolate cake. There was the other time that you promised to take me to the zoo, but we ended up at the movies….and there was that time….and the other time….” she said while counting her fingers.

“Haha. Those are different. This is grandma’s last promise to you. I have never broken a serious promise. Now have I?” Grandma Chen said with a soft smile.

“Okay. Pinky promise?”

“Okay.” Grandma reached out shakily with her hand

“Sweetie, move a bit close to grandma.” said Elizabeth

“Sorry, grandma. I forgot” said Ruby

“ It’s okay. Grandma is no longer as mobile as she used to be” she said while shaking her pinky finger with Ruby's.

“Where is the doctor?” Grandma asked Timothy. “It should be about time”

“He’s outside. Do you not want to wait a bit longer for Kevin and Lisa? Last time we heard from them, they were about to land in the airport?” asked Timothy

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“ It’s not good to keep the doctor waiting. He’s a busy person with many patients”

“I asked him. He said he can wait for another thirty minutes. I think we should wait. Do you remember how upset they were when they couldn’t see dad when he passed away?”

“Yeah. But no one saw him when he passed away.” she replied with bitterness.

“Mom, you know it was not your fault” said Timothy

“I know, but I should have known ever since Alex died in that car accident, your dad was not the same. Which parent would be okay with seeing their child die before them?” she said

“The doctor said it was old age”

“It was heart ache” she replied stubbornly. “I know him better than anyone. Better than any doctor”

The door burst open and everyone crawled inside.

“Mom! We are sorry for being late. There was an accident on the freeway.” said Lisa while taking off her jacket wet with snow.

The tiny hospital room was filled with people. Grandma looked around and tried to memorize their faces. There was Timothy who looked just like his dad with his wife and child. There was Lisa who was always too talkative yapping away about the accident on the freeway while taking the coats off her children. Her husband was trying to talk to TImothy and get a sense of the situation here. Out of all of Grandma's children, Lisa gave her the most grandchildren, a total of four and a fifth was on the way. Next to them, was Kevin, her youngest. He got married a couple years ago and his beautiful wife was next to him. They are also expecting a child in a couple of months. It would be a healthy grandson. Out of all of them, Kevin gave her the most worries over the years. He was a carefree spirit and passionate about his art, but art does not pay the bills. She watched as he struggle for many years during his twenties, but he, with his pride, never accepted any of the family's help. Luckily, he met Veronica during one of his low points and she stabilized him. It also help that not only was she realistic, but came from a wealthy family. Now, his art is selling like crazy and they do charity work in their free time.

Each of Grandma's children were successful in their own way. They were healthy and living a good life. There was nothing more, she as a parent, could ask for.

“Doctor, I am ready” she said cutting through the chatter in the room.

The doctor who had came in with the rest of the crowd and waiting silently near the door nodded his head.

“All the paperwork are done. I just need you to sign on the bottom of this paper and that will be it.” He said handing over a pen.

She signed the paper that he was holding in his hand.

She looked around the room one more time and smiled bitterly. How glorious and satisfying it was to be able to see and say goodbye to your loved ones one last time. These were their children and this was their family, but he chose to die alone. She sighed, this was the past and she will see him soon. She will be able to scold him as long as she want in a bit. She will be able to hear his voice and hold his hand. She will be able to let go of her bitterness as long as she sees him. They will be able to continue their life right from where they left off. She laughed and smiled at her children and grandchildren who started crying. They were leaning on each other and crying into their loved ones’ shoulders. They were going to be fine after she leave. They had each other.

“Goodbye” she said and nodded at the doctor. He walked over and turned off all the machines.

She cried out loud. Tears were welling up and leaking over. There was so much pain. Breathing became harder. She closed my eyes and everything became black.