It was
quite a good and remarkable experience weekend for us as that was our first
time visiting a blind old folk, Mr Tay.
As we’re
both quite fluent in Hokkien, there was no problem for us to communicate with
him. When we first went to his house, we all introduced ourselves to him. We
need to speak loud and clear, and touch his hands while introducing ourselves.
It is impossible for him to memorize all 5 names in just a couple of hours, so
it will be fine if he forgets us in our next visit :p
Later then,
we brought him down from his house to have a cup of special coffee with 3
pieces of butter inside. He was extremely happy as he wasn’t able to go down to
have a cup of coffee by his own until we visit him. We talked a lot with him,
and also quietly listened to him. He told us a lot of his sad stories, which
really made all of us, reflect deeply.
He is now
84 years old, and he had been visually impaired for 20 years. Try imagining
that we are blind as well. Most of us may think that, “Well, I can’t see”. But
for an elderly, they may think, “I can’t see, I’m so worried about my younger sister”.
They worry more than we do. However, what was even more unfortunate was that
his younger sister didn’t contact him for 3 whole years, despite of his care
towards her. Mr Tay is now already living in darkness, living in fear, and even
his closest relative abandoned him. This is really very sad. What especially sorrows
us is that he will feel helpless after we leave each time. Though he seems to
be quite a pessimistic person throughout the conversation, he is also kind in
advising us to bear a good heart in mind.
However,
luckily Mr Tay is a very easily satisfied person. He kept thanking us for
visiting and accompanying him. We wondered why he wanted such a cup of coffee
every week; he said that it simply made him feel well. We might need something
expensive or nice to satisfy our demands, but a cup of hot coffee gave warmth
to Mr Tay. Simple makes happiness too, however, most of us do not always realize
and appreciate that.
This trip
to the elderly house made me learn a lot. We would like
to visit and help Mr Tay again and the other elderly in the future. We will
age, and one day, we will be old as well. All of us deserve to be happy, and to
be concerned, including Mr Tay J
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