My grandmother has taught me the most important lessons in life

I have always had a close relationship with my grandparents. When my sister and I were little, they would always babysit us and take us on vacations. As I’ve grown older, I have become more and more thankful for the relationship I’ve had with them both, but especially my grandma.

I’m realizing that it’s not a relationship that everyone has had, whether it be because of opportunity or distance. As both my grandparents grow older, I’ve begun to realize that my grandma has taught me so many lessons without either one of us knowing it and how lucky I am to have such a wonderful woman to teach me.

Patience

My grandma is the opposite of patient and she knows it. Sometimes when she gets frustrated, she’ll literally count to ten under her breath to calm herself down – whether she’s mad at my grandpap for something dumb (the typical fight between two 80 year olds) or if her QVC order isn’t coming fast enough, her reaction is exactly the same. Seeing someone actually count out loud as a reminder to stay calm has proven to me that your innate reactions and emotions can be regulated.

How to be assertive

Grandma isn’t afraid to make clear exactly what she needs to happen, but she does it in such a way that exudes kindness and confidence at the same time. I’ve never once heard her sound wishy-washy or uncertain. She knows exactly what she wants and how to ask for it effectively – something I could definitely work on.

Being nice to my sister

My sister and I are three years apart and like most sisters who are this close in age, we fight about everything. While it has definitely better now that we are older, when we were little we would fight constantly. This of course drove everyone around us insane, including my grandma. Instead of yelling at us, she’d always come out with the line, “be nice to your sister, she’s the only one you’ll ever have.” And she’s right, on many fronts.

Not only is she literally the only sister I have, but also, at the end of the day, she’s the only person I have. No one else has grown up in the same house, with the same parents, and the same experiences. I think because my grandma said this after every stupid fight my sister and I had, this double meaning has become clear.

How lucky I am

I feel like every parent has whipped this one out at some point, but for some reason, to me, it’s different when it’s coming from a grandparent. Any time I complain about something silly, my grandma is sure to remind me that it could be worse and how lucky I am to have been given the life I live, and she’s right. Things can always be worse and not everyone has had the same opportunities as me, and there’s someone out there wishing that my little problems were all that they had to worry about.

Unconditional love

Like many older people, my grandma got married to my grandpap at 18 and started a family at 19. She’s told me a few times that at the age of 21, “It’s okay that you’re not married yet (thank God) because times have changed.” She always follows that by saying how she has never once regretted getting married so young, because it’s given her the chance to watch her children grow up and get to know her grandchildren. Hearing her say this has allowed me to learn that it really is all about family. I have no idea if I’ll get married or if I will have kids, but I hope that I have the same attitude as my grandma has always had.

Things always work out how they are suppose to

My grandma always has a plan for everything, but they almost never work out as planned, and while this noticeably shakes her for a moment, she always tries to keep in mind that things will work out how they are suppose to, and that she never really did have control over the situation anyway. I think this is important to keep in mind, things hardly ever go the way you want them to, but you have to be resilient, and know that whatever is going was always going to happen anyway.

Thank you, Grandma.