As crazy as it may seem, presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani and I have something in common. We both have amazing grandparents. Giuliani believes that “what children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life, and most importantly, cookies.” Like Giuliani, I believe in the unconditional love of a grandparent. All a child really needs is for someone to give support every step of the way. That’s what my grandparents have done for me my whole life. After all, when grandparents never miss a softball game for nine years, they most certainly love their grandchild.
Grandpa cooks mouthwatering meals especially for me just because he knows they are my favorite. High school chorus concerts are agonizing and boring, yet my grandparents never missed one of mine because they knew it meant a lot to me. Surprisingly enough, they never even brought earplugs. I remember when I was younger Grandma, Grandpa, and Granny sent me cards for every holiday, and sometimes there’d be money inside for no reason. In my younger years, my grandparents would visit me with some kind of surprise. To this day Grandma and Grandpa still drop in at my house with my favorite candy or some kind of treat, which shows that they think about me when they go to simple places such as the grocery store. It’s those little displays of affection that show me that I am always on their mind.
My granny always asks me what’s going on in my life. Granny has always been good at caring about everything from boyfriends to work. In my youth, I asked her to teach me to
crochet, but she’s right-handed and I’m left-handed. However, she didn’t let this obstacle stop her. Granny worked so hard to learn how to crochet left-handed so she could teach me correctly.
As frustrated as she became when I just did not get it, she kept marching on. I will always remember how to crochet because of Granny’s hard work, time, and energy that she gave to teach me.
Grandma has always loved to bake. When I was younger, I “helped” my Grandma bake. I donned some of her costume jewelry, and she gave me some dough to flatten and a rolling pin. I was her little Betty Crocker. Even though the pies turned out lumpy, uneven, and slightly burned, she’d still eat them because I helped her make them, so they were special. To this day, I have never felt more accomplished.
When I was younger, I liked to play airplane on the swing in Grandpa and Grandma’s carport. Grandpa always stopped doing his yard-work to play with me on that swing. He calls me his “scalawags”, and no one else has that same label. It’s a special nickname he picked out for me when I was little, and he still shows his love by using it today.
Grandparents are full of many life stories, unconditional love, and ceaseless support. I’m sure everyone is fond of his/her grandparents, but only a lucky few can have grandparents that never miss a softball game and have the energy to teach their grandchildren to crochet backwards. I truly believe in the unconditional love of a grandparent. I’m a better person because of the love and support they’ve given me over the years and will continue to give me as long as they live.