I spoke to my grandma for the first time in a little while today. Living in another country obviously creates its own communication hurdles and now that my grandmas getting a bit older she isn’t able to travel, so apart from my visits back to New Zealand there’s not a lot of direct communication, just intermediary via my Dad.

It got me thinking a lot about maintaining relationships, maintaining communication channels, never forgetting who’s important to you and especially those who have contributed most to creating the person you have, or will become.

I have always been very close with my grandparents, they have always been such wonderful, nurturing, caring and incredibly strong people. My grandfather passed away a few years ago but I still feel his lessons, hear his thoughts and remember many, many wonderful memories with him.

My grandmother is 90 latter this year and still going strong which is awesome. Today we spoke of everything from our house construction to her social activities, my wife, kids, my dad and some old memories together. It was lovely and as we reminisced about times that I didn’t even remember or even memories she had of my father as a child, it really highlighted how important it is to honour and respect your family always, and even though life gets busy and time becomes more and more scarce, as you build careers and families etc. you always need to stop, take a step back and remember to prioritise those important relationships, those people in your lives that have been there for you always, those people that have done a full circle, are starting to have a bit more free time again, yet always share thoughts about you.

My grandma was telling me a story about when I was 2, I used to love playing with the Tupperware containers, I’d grab about a few of them, take them to the toy box, grab out some tiddly winks and place a few in each container and then proceed to pass them around to everyone saying ‘cuppa tea?’, ‘cuppa tea?. It’s funny, I couldn’t remember that at all. I had seen photos of me holding the Tupperware containers with tiddly winks in them, but don’t recall the memory. Yet I listened to her tell me that story and I felt this warmth inside my soul, this deep rooted happiness, a memory of happiness that I had shared with her and my grandfather, maybe my dad, who knows who else, but ae memory we had shared that had imprinted something within me.
At the end of the day all we truly have are the memories and emotions trapped in time. We can’t take the physical story with us, we just get to share it with those closest to us in our minds. Those connections, those memories, whether you remember them of not, they create you, create your thoughts, your feelings, the person you become. Cherish them and cherish those who shared them with you, those who helped create them with you, those who helped create them for you.

My grandma has helped shaped me and as I sit here and reminisce about so many wonderful memories we have shared together, it reminds me that life has an expiry, you need to constantly evaluate your time management but never forget those important to you, because one day they’ll be gone and all you’ll have left are those precious memories they helped create with you, for you, inside you.

Love you grandma,

Dean