I see so many young adults and teens these days who use their grandparents.

Either they want help financially, use them for a roof over their heads, borrow their vehicles, and just use them in general. I wish these people would just sit with their grandparents and spend time with them. They are not a burden; your grandparents are one of the best people in your lives.

I am lucky to have a grandfather, Boppa, like the one that I have. Some people aren't close with their grandparents, and some don't even know theirs. It's been almost 7 months since my Mimi has been gone and I wish I had more time with her, but I do still have time to spend with my Boppa. I feel as if my grandmother dying has shown me how amazing my grandfather is.

I've always been close to my Boppa, so I didn't think it possible to get any closer. After this summer, I was wrong. This summer I spent almost every weekend with him just to give him company and he wouldn't be so alone. We had Wendy's dates, he helped me pick out my hair color in Walmart, ate too much ice-cream, and watched too many westerns.

Yet I realized how short life really is.

My Boppa has early onset dementia, a lot of it is stress induced, and change of schedule doesn't help. My Mimi was his life, he had a schedule when it came to taking care of her when she had cancer, so when she died we had to resituate his schedule. He had all this freedom and we needed to keep his old hauling trap hands busy. We would buy him puzzles, he'd clean the house until it was spotless, and tried to keep the garden alive. (None of us have a green thumb so it isn't going well.)

I was excited to go back to school after taking a semester off, but I didn't think one of the people I'd miss the most was my Boppa. I've always had a close relationship with him. When we lived with my grandparents for a bit growing up, he'd help me with my homework, he would drive me to soccer practice and pick me up. I'm really blessed with him being a part of my childhood and having such a positive impact on me.

My Boppa is someone who can make me laugh when no one else can. He can make me laugh even when my eyes are welled up in tears and my heart is breaking. Not just anyone can do that.

I'm thankful for him picking on me, and I'm thankful for his witty comebacks when someone asks how he is. "If I was any better I couldn't stand it."

Be thankful for your grandparents. Don't use and abuse them. Spend time with them because you'll regret not spending time with them when they're gone. I can't imagine life without Boppa, especially then having no grandparents at all. I have this amazing bond that I hope my kids one day have with their grandparents one day.

Because before you know it they will be gone, and either you will have amazing memories with them, or you'll be regretting the time you didn't spend with them.