Grandma

“What children need most are the essentials that their grandma provides in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, and lessons in life.” Words cannot describe how much my grandma means to me. She not only shows the qualities of a hero, but the qualities of an amazing grandmother.

Grandma has persevered all her life. Being the youngest of nine children, it was a struggle to get even amounts of attention and independence. Even though she is one of three left, she still takes time to remember and laugh about her childhood.

My grandma is extremely protective when it comes to her family. Her brother Marvin was just recently diagnosed with stage four Lymphoma. When Grandma heard the horrible news, she retired from her job because her schedule made it impossible to see him. Uncle Marvin lives alone on their childhood farm in Trenary, Michigan. There is plenty of work to be done there, and he is just too weak to do it all on his own. My grandma drives up to Michigan every Saturday to visit him. She takes him to his Chemo treatments and cooks him meals.

I could not ask for a more loving grandmother. On my birthday every year, she sends me a card with a gum man inside. The head, arms and legs are made from dimes. For the body, she puts a stick of gum.

Talkative is definitely one of her strong qualities. Every Friday night, she calls and asks me how my week went. Whenever she calls, we talk for hours about the things we’ve been doing, and stories that happened to us at school. Most nights, we chat until our phones die! My mom and dad think I am wasting Grandma’s time by talking too much, but she loves when I talk to her.

Comfort Keepers is the perfect job for my grandma. Everyday, she goes and helps her elder clients with their needs. Most of them are widows, so most can’t do all their chores on their own. Grandma takes them grocery shopping, does their laundry, cleans their houses, and even takes them Christmas shopping.

Grandma is the most caring person I have ever met. One day when she was at church, an older lady came riding up on an old bike. My grandma hadn’t seen her before, so she went up and introduced herself. After the ceremony, she went up and asked the lady if she needed a ride home. “Yes,” the lady said. As they were driving, my grandma said, “So where we headed? Do you live around here?” After a long pause from the lady...she said, “No, I live across town...at the homeless shelter.” My grandma was heartbroken. Every so often, she would call the needy lady to ask how she was doing. The women at the shelter explained that she didn’t have much money, because she lost her job. Grandma insisted on helping, offering to pay for half of the woman’s apartment rent each month.

A couple years ago, Grandma was diagnosed with arthritis. It has affected the bones in her hands and legs. Every morning, she takes a steaming hot bath because it helps take away the pain. Because of Grandma’s arthritis, it makes her an even bigger hero in my eyes. She never lets it get in the way of doing what she wants. I’ve never heard her complain once about the struggles she’s faced, and it makes me realize how much I truly love her.

“A hero is someone who has given her life to something bigger than oneself.” Most heroes are movie stars, or athletes. They are known for being famous, or making a lot of money. To me, none of that matters...because I already have the best hero in the world!