“I can remember my grandmother’s engaging and sometimes horrific stories of sacrifice. She could cook big feed the masses until all of our buttons burst. And she did this with a very limited fixed income. No part of a chicken roast was ever wasted.”
‘I wonder what she would have thought of all the hoarding. That’s not how they did it back then. She made reusing aluminum foil fun.’: Woman worries about her generation, ‘We have a bold task ahead’
‘My grandma showed up in the OR during my c-section. She had a few choice words for the doctors.’: Grandmother teaches pregnant woman important lesson about kindness in dream
“When I shared this dream with her, she laughed! She said she’d have to start consciously watching her language again before Little Man arrives. Their minds are not the only ones impacted by this chatter.”
‘Your grandma has spiked a fever.’ ‘The nursing home was hit with COVID-19. My fierce, stubborn 98-year-old Italian little woman of a Nana fell victim.’: Woman mourns grandma lost to Covid-19, ‘Today Nana left us and my heart is broken’
“Telling my Nana my life wasn’t going to be what she expected, as I’d met the person I intended to marry and it was not a ‘he,’ was the most difficult moment of my life. I watched her heart break in front of me, fully aware I was the cause. Years later, at my wedding, she looked at me and said, ‘The LGBTQ community is the happiest group of people I’ve ever been part of.’ Today, Nana left us. My heart is broken.”
‘Just keep me comfortable.’ She seemed sure and confident, even in the whisper that had become her voice.’: Woman describes bond with ‘vibrant’ grandmother, ‘I appreciate having been on the receiving end for so many years’
“The first thing my daughter, Leah, said upon entering the hospital room was ‘pacifier,’ referring to the CPAP keeping my beautiful grandmother’s lungs expanding in that crisp, white hospital bed. Her red hair was squished in the back, eyes revealing fatigue, but thankfully not discomfort. She drove a white Thunderbird when I was a kid.”
‘Raising kids without my mother is much, much harder than I thought.’: Woman details parenthood after loss of mother, ‘It’s like driving without a GPS’
“‘Go ahead, I’ll watch the kids.’ The woman walks off, alone. She’ll be back soon, and anyway, her mother loves time with the grandkids. She’ll get a kick of watching the 3-year-old go up and down the tiny plastic slide. After the play space, they’ll do a little more shopping and grab lunch at the Food Court. Mostly, they’ll talk. It’s a common scene. But it makes a lump rise in my throat. I used to do this sort of thing, before my mom got too sick.”
‘The surgeon accidentally cut an artery. ‘This ring is yours now, Molz. She wanted you to have it. I wish she could have given it to you, herself.’: Woman surprised with late grandma’s ring after freak accident, ‘It was her little gift to me, straight from Heaven’
“My grandmother bled to death. My grandpa was heartbroken. It was a shock for all of us. A freak accident. There was no time to say goodbye or make sure she knew we loved her. When I called my grandpa to let him know I was eloping, his voice immediately perked up. ‘You need THE RING. She always wanted you to have it.’ I never expected it. I never even knew I wanted it. I felt an immense sense of peace wash over.”
‘I now realize why my grandmother was so reluctant to say, ‘Yes. You can live here.’: Man shares gratitude for Grandmother who took him in and ‘saved his life’
“I can still remember her sitting in the white vinyl rocker next to the refrigerator, a wrinkled moisturizer-soaked hand on her forehead, shoulders slumped, trying to figure out how to raise a teenager long after she’d intended to raise a teenager. She sacrificed a lot by taking in her troubled, slightly drug addicted, disgruntled, often absent from class, foul mouthed, rebellious grandson.”
‘Boy, I thought I was hot stuff. They noticed I could shoot. I taught beginners and built a reputation as a coach.’: Man recalls his ’15 minutes of fame’ and brush with Olympics thanks to StoryWorth
“When I was a little boy, my dad drove from our home in Harlan County down to Cherokee, North Carolina. That’s where Dad bought me my first store-bought toy: a wood-and-string bow and arrow, carved by the Cherokee on the reservation. Boy, I thought I was hot stuff. We were dirt poor. But my aim was improving, and years later, others noticed I could shoot. I was bad news for anyone who came up against me in competition.”
‘I’m pregnant dad…’ I was 18. You looked so mad. You two needed each other, even if you didn’t know it yet.’: Teen mom pens appreciation letter to dad, ‘I couldn’t imagine doing life without you’
“I wasn’t scared to tell friends, family, or the internet. Only you. I still remember sitting on my bed with mom. You walked in on me crying. I could barely get out the words before you hung your head in disappointment and stormed off. Six months later, you took me to every doctors appointment. Six years later, you, papa, are my daughter’s world.”
‘She slipped her small frame into my son’s skinny jeans. It was cute, but sad. My heart broke.’: Woman details mother-in-law’s journey with Alzheimer’s, ‘her mind and body are slipping away’
“In a matter of months, she began to rapidly decline. Mild confusion turned to disorientation. We witnessed her turn into a shell of who she once was. She no longer recognizes us. It has been gut-wrenching to watch her be so unaware of herself and her surroundings, especially for a woman who, in the past, wouldn’t have even entertained the thought of being seen without her hair properly curled.”
