It's 6 o'clock. You just got home from work, or soccer practice or a dentist appointment. You have yet to shower, or eat dinner. You still have homework to do or a presentation to prepare. There's a pile of dishes in the sink and the dog tore open the trash again. You're overwhelmed, exhausted and hungry. In the midst of the chaos that is your mind you remember you told Grandma that you would give her a call. You think to yourself, "I'm too tired or I'll call her tomorrow, or maybe Thursday."
No. Stop everything that you're doing, and call her.
At a point in time we begin to think it was OK to prioritize useless tasks over the people we love. It's easy to distance ourselves from the people we love, like our Grandmas, when there are so many things right there in front of you that seem so important. The dishes can wait. That stack of papers will still be exactly where they were. You'd think that you would be more inclined to keep contact with the people who may live far away from us. Most of us spend the good majority of our time with our phones, on social media and try to act like we are "communicating" with other people. But double tapping a photo or sending a picture of your face doesn't compare to a five minute conversation with a person you love. Five minutes. That's all you need in order to hear the good and the bad of everyday. Don't wait until Thanksgiving dinner to catch up on the last seven months that you've missed.
Even so, it's inevitable to be faces with challenges and stress. And what's pretty cool about Grandmas is that they've being living for a pretty long time - a lot longer than you. And with all the things they've experienced, and the people they've met; they can probably offer some pretty good advice. When you feel like you've been complaining about your life too much to your friends, give your Grandma a call! I've never once had my Grandma end a conversation with me because she wasn't genuinely interested.
Yet with just about anything, time is always a factor. And it's not just only with our Grandmas, but all of the people we love. You never know how much time you have. It could be 10 years or it could be 10 days. You don't know. You would much rather go through life knowing way too much about your Grandma, than nothing at all. It doesn't matter if she lives two houses down, or across the country, she's only a phone call away. If you can't visit your Grandma often, then call her everyday. It's easy to get to know someone, all you need to do is get off of Instagram, and dial her number. We cannot go through life expecting things to never change, and people to never leave. It is necessary to recognize the blessing that we have right before our eyes, instead of looking for something more. Not to mention how happy you'll make your Grandma, and how a phone call would make her day.
This is your opportunity to get to know someone amazing. It's your chance to learn how she gets her cookies so soft when she bakes them. This is the time to find out what her favorite color is; where she likes to shop. Having a Grandma is an instant best friend - if you're privileged enough to have Grandparents to call, then call them.
Because one day, you won't be able to drive to her house for a home cooked meal, or hear about the crazy things Grandpa used to do. The days of your childhood spent playing in her backyard, or running errands will only be memories. And that unique Grandma smell (that every single Grandma seems to have) that was once fresh in your mind will get lost. like anything else. And maybe it's easy to distant ourselves from that idea; to prevent the heartbreak that comes with it. But spending the allotted time given with someone incredible, is worth all the pain that comes with it. Sometime six days or five years later, you'll remember something about them that you had completely forgotten - like that one time your Grandma surprised you with a box of chocolate, or when you were feeling hopeless and she had just the right words to make everything seem okay. It's those moments when you feel nothing but gratitude for the time you had with the person you loved.
You're not going to realize just how much your Grandma means to you, until it's too late. When you can't pick up the phone and tell her about your day, or ask for the recipe to that delicious soup she makes - that's when you'll regret ever thinking that your Grandma was going to be there forever. Don't force yourself to ask if she knew how much you loved her - tell her every chance you get, so she knows.
Call your Grandma. Learn her favorite color. Ask her about her favorite movie. Remind her how much you love her.
There's just about anything that I would do to be able to call my Grandma one more time.
