Grannies Are Good For You

Cut to an episode of CSI:  Gil Grissom looks up over the corpse of a woman found dead in a tanning booth (you knew they were bad for you, right?) into the smouldering eyes of ex-Vegas showgirl Catherine Willows.

"Looks like she couldn't take the heat," he says enigmatically, "By the way, how was your dad's fishing trip?"

Okay, so that would never happen.  

From what we see (or don't see) in movies and on TV, one could assume that, around twenty years of age, an individual's parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles simply cease to exist.  These relationships are mostly ignored - Embarrassing, right?  Horribly uncool - swept aside in the wake of the ever-present, often frenetic, search for Love.  Love with a capital L. Romantic Love.  Sexual Love.

But what about all the other kinds of love?  What about the love of your parents, who let you live at home again when you can't find a job?  What about the love of your grandparents, who always get you the wrong thing for Christmas, but who see the best in you, and reflect it back so you can see it?  What about all the people who knew you as a child?  Who saw the innocence and good in you then, and who still see it? 

I never realized how important these relationships were to me, until I moved away.  Once-yearly visits have left me yearning.  

Many people live far away from their families, doing important work all over the world, or else immigrating so as to give their children opportunities for fulfilling work, fair pay, access to health care.  The wonderful thing is that these days, ways to keep in touch increase daily.

Still, there's something lost in an email that can be gained by sitting in a room with your grandmother, watching her eyes wrinkle as she laughs, seeing her delight as you tell her about your day.

(Picture of our Granny taken by Brianna Greaves)