The Spectacular Tale of A Vintage Rolex Binding the Memories of A Departed Grandmother

In the unsettling quietude of a hospital in Toronto, amidst the profound grief of losing her grandmother, a woman finds an unexpected conduit to her beloved grandmother’s memory. It was an unplanned occurrence. A vintage Rolex watch, with a dial radiating the exact hue of orange her late grandmother wore for the last time, graced her phone screen. The color, capturing the essence of her grandmother’s forceful charisma and robust personality, demandingly drew her attention.

As she reminisced, the memory of a New Year’s Eve dinner revived itself. Her grandmother, then ninety-one and as intensely commanding as ever, chastised her for not marrying her then-girlfriend and underutilizing her business degree from Stanford. The rapid flow of her grandmother, speaking in their native Shanghai dialect, echoed in her ears, reminding her of the scathing lecture on marriage, children, and a career, captured forever in a twelve-minute recording that emerged out of an unexplained urge.

Immersed in her literary world, the woman had devoted her years working on a debut novel, a futuristic tale of a time where memories could be traded off, released by a renowned publication. But her ambitious literary pursuits never met her grandmother’s approval. She belonged to a generation where survival was of the essence and indulgence was an alien concept. As a result, her ambitious dreams of writing were not considered a viable career by her grandmother.

Her grandmother had lived a life of resilience and perseverance. Born as an unwanted sixth daughter, she was left in a field by her parents, only to be retrieved out of guilt later. She went on to work in a factory in Shanghai, mothered four children, and then dedicated herself to hospital work, ultimately acquiring the position of a Communist Party representative. Her strict pragmatism was born out of her own survival.

The immense ambition of the granddaughter, the grave pragmatism of the aged, reminiscing grandmother, the vintage Rolex bearing the symbol of her grandmother’s memory, this spectacular saga paints a poignant picture of love, dreams, and personal aspirations.