For most people who have lost a loved one, the pain or grief never truly goes away and becomes something we learn to live with instead.
At the same time, we can still look back on all the times we shared with that loved one by combing through old photos and videos.
In one Singaporean’s case, he has found a novel way to remember his late grandma by.
Source: TikTok
Whenever he misses her, he goes on Google Maps and navigates Hougang Central, where an archived image of his grandma waits for him.
In a video posted on 28 Jan (Saturday), TikTok user @retroridersg shared a screen recording of him navigating 840 Hougang Central.
He pans to a pedestrian crossing, which is dated Aug 2022.
As Google Maps captures the same areas at various points in time, OP can ‘time travel’ by scrolling through photos of the same pedestrian crossing over the years.
When he taps on a photo from Feb 2009, the landscape changes to show two women about to cross the road.
Source: TikTok
He zooms in on one of them, an elderly lady clad in purple clutching a few plastic bags.
Via the caption, OP revealed that the lady is his late grandma.
According to him, he always misses her come Chinese New Year, so he would “come to Google Map(s), and she will be there”.
Speaking to MS News, the OP said his grandma departed more than two years ago in the middle of Circuit Breaker. She was battling cancer at the time.
Interestingly enough, OP had chanced upon her picture while she was still alive, as he was looking through Google Maps to see whether any of his family members had been captured.
Upon finding her image, he jokingly asked whether she spotted a Google Street View car.
Now, it has become a way for him to keep her memory alive, as OP said he would sometimes go to her image to tell her that he is doing fine.
Besides that, OP shared that he misses her cooking most of all.
As his grandma took care of him and his elder brother when they were kids, her cooking was something they enjoyed a lot.
Hence, seeing his grandma immortalised in Google Maps with her groceries always reminded him of her cooking.
He added that they did many things together, like watching television and grocery shopping. He would also watch her cook.
Furthermore, his grandma was always the one he would share his secrets with.
OP’s touching way of keeping his grandma’s memory alive prompted many netizens to share similar stories.
One user commented that she can still find their late grandpa on Google Images and Maps and that the pictures are all located at his favourite haunts.
In response, OP reminded the user to save the photos, and shared that he can even track how his dad’s car has changed throughout the years.
Source: TikTok
One netizen lamented that they lost an image of their late grandpa, who was once on Google Maps, after some changes were made.
Another user wished they could see their grandpa this way, but the latter passed in 1997 before Google Maps utilised such technology.
OP empathised with them by sharing that he knew how they felt as his own grandpa passed in the same decade.
Source: TikTok
Meanwhile, one commenter whose elderly father has dementia said it means so much to them and their family that they can still see him on Google Street View, presumably before he fell sick.
Source: TikTok
Apart from that, the video also brought back bittersweet memories for some viewers.
One user reminisced on how his grandma always gave him sweets and waited for him after school regardless of the weather.
Source: TikTok
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Featured image adapted from TikTok.
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