My mother brought me into this world, but it was my grandmother who raised me. I grew up in a couple states I guess, not really sure why my mother never stayed in one place too long. I remember spending every summer with my grandma in Michigan though and I always loved every second of it.
My mother has always kinda done her own thing. She has always been a free spirit who was always on the go, always looking for the next best thing, and always had her eyes forward. Leaving my grandma and I to fend for ourselves.
My grandma was a fairly predictable woman. She loved animals, she is the hardest worker I know, she went to church every Sunday, and never took the answer "no" for face-value...Im pretty sure she saw it more as a suggestion to bargain. ;)
My grandma grew up in a different time, she went to school in a one-room school house, I went to school in building that was a partial mile from end-to-end. My grandma always told me that "nothing good ever happens after dark".....I always thought that things didn't start until everyone was sleeping. lol. It wasn't really that either person was right or wrong, it was more that we were born in two completely different generations.
Needless to say my high school years were not that pretty, I got myself into some pickles for sure and my grandma was always there to ground me. I couldn't wait to move out and make my own rules...I could stay out late and sleep in the next day, I could come and go as I please. I never looked back or so I thought. I had decided that I was never going to be anything like that mean-hearted person that I thought she was......My how time changes things. :(
Quite a few years have passed since my days of getting into trouble and sneaking out of the house. I have been through a lot over the past few years. A lot of trying times that I would never have gotten through with out the help of my grandma. You see, it took a long time for me to realize that although we were born in different generations, the love of a parent never changes. She may not have liked me all the time and vice-versa, but she loved me more then I could have ever known. As a kid, you don't see things that way, you see parents trying to spoil your fun.
It wasn't until the birth of my daughter that I really really began to understand the love of a parent towards their child. You would do anything for that little creature just to see them smile. You would do anything for that child to never have and hurt or sadness in their life. I always said that I never wanted to be anything like that woman, that I would do things differently, but now I find myself stopping in my tracks, realizing that that the things I say to my kid, they way I discipline is just like my grandma. ;) I've realized as an adult that my grandma had my best interest at heart.
My grandma is my best friend these days, she's my partner in crime and the one person I can always count on. Without her love and guideance I would not be the person I am am today. Without her strength and helping hand to guide me, my life would have turned out so different.
I am a mother, I was a wife, I am a sister, I am an aunt, I am granddaughter, I am independent, I am strong and I don't take "no" for an answer.....It's merely a suggestion to bargain. ;)
