Every person has an epic story about their life; you just have to be willing to hear it. I was born in the 90's and as I have grown up, I see all the generations interact so differently with each other. My grandparent's generation is the most personable with others. I could be filling up my car with my grandma and she would find a way to strike up a conversation with a random stranger. My parent's generation is still interactive but not as much as my grandparents. They are very friendly with others but I see them more comfortable talking to someone over the phone. Compared, to my generation, most of us are uncomfortable to even talk to someone in a hallway, we basically only communicate through text or social media.
The worst part that I'm scared about is the upcoming generations. I'm nannying for two kids this summer and they can't interactive with anyone unless it comes after their four-hour video game streak. It worries me, for what their comfort zone will be in the real world especially if my generation can't even interactive in a hallway. I don't mean to say all of this just to proclaim stereotypes but this summer I made it a goal to find out what each person's epic life story is.
The first person I want to tell you about is my grandma, Ann. She has been one of my mentors my entire life and I hope I'm even half the woman she is today. She grew up in Dairy, Ireland with 11 siblings. She was the third oldest and didn't have much room for a childhood. At 5 years old, she already took on the mother role and started putting her siblings before herself. Her daily routine would consistent of school, laundry, making dinner, and packing school lunches. At 17, she had already been engaged twice but found out she would never be able to have children. So, she said goodbye to the men she loved because she wanted them to be happy.
After the months of hardship, she joined a nun academy. She had two weeks left before she graduated. Then all of the sudden, she met my grandpa, Ken. He was in Ireland resting at a military USA base. He didn't care that she could never have kids. He loved her for her and wouldn't change a thing about her. She quit the academy and married him. She followed him home to Minnesota and started the new chapter of her life. She had so many unknowns with moving here, but she didn't let that stop her. She was blessed with four beautiful children and now to many grandchildren to count. Her selflessness of life taught me so much!
It's insane that I have known my grandma my entire life, yet I didn't know any of this information until this summer. It took me 20 years to get off my phone and ask my grandma her life story. It's so incredible to see what can happen when you ask a person one simple question: tell me your epic life story.
