"There's 7UP in the fridge."

That's what my grandfather always said to me, every time I visited him. He'd want to know if I'd eaten, if I was hungry, if I was thirsty, and even if my answers were Yes, No, and No, he'd happily inform me, "There's 7UP in the fridge."

As my 76-year-old grandfather is being treated in Pantai Hospital Ampang, and the latest update from my relatives being that he's in serious, critical condition, I wonder if there was anything that my grandfather went through as a boy that made 7UP and other assortments of soft drinks such a happy treat.

My eyes keep welling up with tears and my nose gets red when I wonder if my grandfather will survive this wave of old-people-illnesses. Pneumonia, diabetes, cataracts, shaky hands... as I smiled into his grey-tinted eyes yesterday when I visited him, I wondered how clearly he could see me back, and why his eyes were a different colour from what I remembered when I was little.

As I sit in my room alone staring at my dissertation Ethics Form through teary eyes, I wonder if my grandfather will live to see me get married, or be a great grandfather. I never really got to play him a proper song. I used to watch my grandfather play the piano and sing old Chinese songs, with my grandmother singing along. Did you know he was a musician? When I was younger, he tried to teach me how to play the trumpet... I was fascinated, but utterly talentless. And we laughed together when he told me how my dad cried when he was a little boy and grandpa was teaching him how to play the trumpet.

P.S: Nayati Moodliar, aged 12, was kidnapped on his way to Mont Kiara International School on Friday morning. My heart goes out to his family and friends as well. I hope he is returned safely to his parents. :(