I often talk about my grandmothers. I'm lucky enough to still have both of them in my life. One of my grandmothers, my Yiayia (Greek for 'grandma), doesn't speak English very well -- but I'm told she's very sassy with her Greek. The other one, my Mémé (she's French), recently learnt to text and my sister and I get a loving, personalised message every Monday morning.
She started texting us, because that way we reply. She doesn't want to feel like she's annoying us (her words, not ours) but instead wants to remind us, weekly, how much we mean to her.
The least we can do is take 30 seconds out of our day to write back. But do you know what's better? Picking up the phone. Whenever I call her, she answers. And when she answers, I can hear the joy in her voice. It's different from any other phone call I make, because hearing my voice is enough. She's not waiting for me to get to 'the purpose of the call' so she can hang up and get back to her life. We are her life. Again, her words, not ours.
So I want to ask you, how much do you know about your grandmother's life? Because the chat I had with mine (which you can listen to here and below) made me realise there's so much more I want to ask her.
Why did she decide to move to Australia from Morocco? What was her life like growing up? Was it scary moving here when she didn't know anyone? How did she learn the language? What were her parents like? How does she stay so positive even though she's lost big chunks of her memory due to illness?
One of the questions I did get to ask her was what makes her 58-year marriage to my grandfather (my Pépé) work so well.
"We worked like mad," she tells me. "But we've never said 'we are tired' because we loved our work. If you love your work it makes a big difference in your life, and brings you joy at home."
I can't wait to ask her more, and I plan to, because Grandma really does know best.
'Grandma Knows Best' is the latest HuffPost Humans podcast episode, which explores the importance of grandmother's in the family unit. We interviewed a grandma who uses technology, as best she can, to keep in touch with her grandchildren, as well as someone who has just become a grandmother for the first time about the fears she has for her granddaughter.
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