An Open Letter To My Grandmother
It’s true that our grandparents can be just as much of an influence on us as our parents. My grandmother is so much more. You are my rock, my best friend, and my grandmother all combined. Thank you to the woman who made me who I am today, I’d truly be nothing without you.
You Are So Strong
Throughout the years, you’ve definitely gone through hell. In terms of family issues, you got the short end of the stick. I know you know what I mean. You’ve battled career trouble and you were a caretaker for so long. But through all of this, you never lost sight of being a grandmother. You made sure I was happy every holiday and every day for that matter.
You have never let your personal feelings get in the way of spending time with your grandchildren, and I hope you know that has never gone unnoticed. Besides the fact that you are always taking care of us over yourself, you also sacrifice the little things for us. You always let me have the last little bit of sweet tea that was left, even if you wanted it. You always got out of bed and made us “midnight snacks” even when we had exhausted you all day. And somehow, these little things made you even happier. I think you were born to be a grandmother because you sure are good at it.
You did whatever you had to do to spend time with me and to spoil me like I was your own child. I never left your house without being so full I thought I was going to explode, and $20 (or a new toy) in my hand. You always wanted to buy me that new toy I wanted or take me to that new place I wanted to go to. And these aren’t the things that made me love you. I always looked up to how you didn’t care what others thought of you. You didn’t care who got mad at you for things you had no control over. And you still don’t. You put being a mother and a grandmother first, and that’s something you have never failed at.
I Admire You
You are such a hard worker. Even now, when you should be able to retire and spend your days doing all of the things you love, you spend your time working so you can have money to take care of everything, and have some leftover to spoil your grandkids. I don’t know how you do it. You are constantly taking care of others. Literally, you go to work every day to take care of other people, and you do it every minute of your off time. You’ve always taken care of me physically and emotionally. You always (and still do) made sure I had everything I needed and then some.
Even now, you constantly check up on me. You make sure I’m where I need to be with my mental health, and you make sure I’m not neglecting myself. That is something every person needs, and you have no idea how much it means to me that you are that person for me. I can’t thank you enough.
You Are A Friend
I love our two-hour phone calls so much. It’s so nice to know I have someone who genuinely cares about me, what I’m up to, what I’m thinking. I love talking about the latest drama with you. I love that you never judge me, no matter how many embarrassing stories I tell. One of the best parts is, you understand me. You know all the family drama I’ve been through because you were there. You watched me grow up, and you know exactly what pulls at my heartstrings.
You Make Me Who I Am
You are more than a part of what makes me who I am today. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have my amazing (kind of messed up, to be honest) sense of humor. I wouldn’t be able to laugh at myself when the tough things happen, and I definitely wouldn’t have the self-confidence I have now. These are all things you have instilled in me, and that you continue to teach me. I always think I can’t possibly learn anything else from you and then you surprise me. You lead by example, and I respect that so much. Every day, I push myself to be more like you. I know everyone says this about the people they love, and you may think I’m biased but I’m not. If I turn out to be half the woman you are, I can die happy.
We Have So Many Good Memories
I absolutely love when one of us starts a conversation with “do you remember the time we..” and ten minutes later, we’re both laughing hysterically. We really do have so many good memories. I don’t think other people have this much fun with their grandparents! There are the traditional memories we have of riding go-karts and going to the water park every summer. We loved going to the public pool. It was one of our favorite pastimes. We had our annual “staycation” where we just rented movies and got milkshakes from the gas station. And then there were the bigger things, like our trip to New York City. That was a wild one.
Some of the most special memories I have are of you and I just laughing our heads off at nothing. I loved making homemade “ghost hunting” videos when I was a kid (or maybe I was 13, who cares). I love playing WetHead every year at Christmas, and then graduating to Pie Face when we got tired of WetHead.
I love when you come to visit me now, and we can do new things. Basically, any time spent with you is so much fun and they are memories that I hold close to my heart and always will. I love you so much, and don’t you ever forget it.
