Taking Care of My Demented Grandma, Si-How Lai: It’s Interesting & I’d Gained a Lot from the Experience

From the Front Page Sections, translated…

The twenty-nine year-old Si-How Lai looked no different than people his age, but, his business card was very unique, on one side, there’s “My wonderful grandson Si-How”, on the other side, “Grandma is here”, and it’d also had the sketches made by his grandmother three years ago.  This was a Facebook Fans page he’d started three years ago, documenting everything that flowed between his grandmother and him, he’d gotten over ten thousand fans to date, his unorthodox ways of getting along with his grandmother had made people discover that taking care of a demented elderly person doesn’t have to  be a drag.

photo from the courtesy of UDN.com…

Si-How accompanied his grandmother who’s now in a nursing home after her stroke had caused her to become demented, they’d gotten along like friends, instead of grandparent and grandchild, he’d laughed about how passive his grandma was, from before she fell ill, she’d loved becoming a couch potato, and he’d had to, ice his grandma with his hands, to force her to get up to go to the bathrooms.  After she fell ill, she became immobilized, and Si-How would take her out for strolls, and would often “illegal park” his grandma onto the motorcycle parking spaces.  Small pranks such as this had made “taking care of the elderly” lighter, more enjoyable.

“Love is simple, it’s also simple, getting along with elderly, just be more childish than they are.”  Si-How Lai believed that he’s not the one who’s giving in this relationship at all, “Actually, she’d accompanied me too, I feel very relaxed talking to my grandmother, I’d complained about my boss, my work, she’s a very good listener.”  Caring for his grandmother had made him become more empathetic, “sometimes I’d told my grandma, I’m truly grateful to you, for showing me the values of life as an elderly person.”

And so, this young man had, shouldered up the responsibilities of accompanying his demented grandmother, and he does not see it as burdensome, instead, he chose to face it with a special kind of optimism, and that, is truly amazing.