I grew up in the small town of Cross City, FL, where I had the ability to visit with my grandma every day after school since she lived next door to me. My parents were just teenagers when my sister and I were born. My mom had just graduated high school when I was born, and my dad dropped out of high school the year before I was born. By the time I was two, my sister Kassidy was born, which meant my parents had two kids by the time they were nineteen and twenty. As anyone can imagine, this made it hard for them to be able to take care of me while maintaining full time jobs. Thankfully, my parents moved into the house right next to my grandma which was the first step that lead her to be my number one.
Grandma always had grilled cheese with chocolate milk waiting for me, along with a card game or marbles to play with. I loved to see Grandma every day and never grew tired of her presence. This period of time spent with my grandma was important because I always felt heard by her. She would allow me to talk for hours on end about whatever came to my mind. Specifically, I would talk to her about school, friends, and my home life. At times, it was hard to talk to my parents because I knew that they were focused on making enough money to support me and my sister. I felt at ease knowing that someone like my grandma was there for me no matter what, and that they were there to comfort me, advise me, and to tell me that everything was going to be okay. To add with that, my mom’s brother lived just down the road during this time which allowed me to talk to him and my cousins. Family is really important to her, which is why it made talking to her feel natural and easy. I recall a terrible experience I had with a bully at school where I felt hurt and alone. I knew then that my grandma would be there for me, and she was. I came home and she listened to everything I said and told me how to handle the situation. Grandma would also listen to me when I would talk to her about my home life. My parents would argue a lot which would scare me. I knew that they had problems which made me want to talk to someone about it. Thankfully, Grandma always made me feel heard. I could just explain everything to her and she would understand and want to make me feel better. I was so young that I did not need a lot of advice, but looking back at all of those memories now, I can really appreciate how much time she spent just listening to me. Children do not always catch on to things that happen in their household or do not always understand what is going on, but no matter what, Grandma treated each thing I had to say like it was the most important thing in the world. This is one thing that I really admire about her. She would listen to my concerns and not brush them away like other adults do to children. I felt important, which is what helped build my confidence in life. My grandma did not distance herself from me or my family. She made sure that we were all taken care of and that we all felt like we could talk to her about anything that was going on in our lives. I hope that she understands how much she has impacted my life and I hope one day I am able to repay her with the same amount of support that she gave me.
Without her support and making me feel like I was important, I wouldn’t be where I am today. She was, and still is to this day, my rock, and has never turned her back on me or my family. Now that she’s getting older, she’s getting a bit of dementia and seems to put herself in harm’s way a lot without noticing. Now that she has let me feel heard, I want to do the same for her. I want my grandma to be able to talk to me about her thoughts and feelings so that she still feels important, even though some people may not treat her that way. Grandma never turned her back on me, and I will turn my back on her.
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