While your parents are fighting the battle that is trying to raise you, tame you, guide you, save you… Grandparents have the ability to keep you grounded, magnify your strengths, and yet provide this stunning amount of influence and security in your life. I’ve come to a point where I am tired of being inadequately stuck in a routine, a dependent of my parents, and so concerned over what I'm lacking, how I'll make it in the real world, and all the little details in every day. Yet, it's in conversations with my grandparents that bring me back to my roots; I have never appreciated them more in my life than in these recent years.
Though their hair may be silver, their hearts are of purest gold.
My grandparents are reaching an age that encourages maximizing experiences, following intuitions and passions, and keeping true to what makes them happiest. I'm so envious of that. Here I am, a loose cannon trying not to pass over opportunities that’ll aid my future positions and successes—a bit lost. They know how to restructure my viewpoints, pull apart the b.s., and target what really it is that I wish to discover. My grandparents have never challenged my opinions, rather, they’ve amplified them to an audience of all their neighbors, doctors, and clientele. I can't express the love that radiates from within when they talk so highly of me, so remarkably, and in such a tone reflective of the world's finest treasures.
And that's the thing—they'll never be able to understand the power within their words, last minute phone calls, or their "you're more than capable" attitudes. The security of such an esteemed guidance can be easily lost when coming of age, easily confused, and morally frustrated. And that's another thing—I'll never be able to repay them for their time they've given up to spend listening to me, the miles traveled to watch my sports games, their ever-present love and support, and the countless ways they've made me a better person.
"Thank you" has never felt more insufficient...
It's an unworthy imbalance; they're providing me with this ever-growing heap of time, energy, money, knowledge, and true compassion. I am on the brink of self-discovery, yet riding the line between being overworked and in complete disarray and remembering my P's and Q's. It's this generational gap that allows me to not fret about their words or discount my own actions, and yet provides me a sense of comfort of in life, just knowing that someone who is wise in their years believes in me. I've never felt more nourished, cultured, or proud of myself than in their company.
Governing more than just a place in my life, my grandparents have established themselves warmly in my heart. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
