The countdown has officially begun.
In two months Skye’s grandma will be moving here to live. Not just in the same town, but in the same house. She will get to soak up so much Grandma Love every single day, I may even get a little jealous for attention – whether it’s from my daughter or my mom could go either way.
She will also be learning on a daily basis from the examples of her strong, independent mother and grandmother. She will know from a young age that doing things “like a girl,” isn’t a bad thing, and that a woman doesn’t necessarily need a man to survive. Just as I did growing up.
I was also lucky enough to live extremely close to my grandma. We also lived in the same house, for a winter when I was a kid and then for a year when I was in high school. Even when we didn’t actually share an address, she didn’t live more than a few minutes away.
My parents split up when I was almost eight, but I don’t have many memories of before their divorce. Most of my childhood memories are of being raised by a single mom, with much help from my grandmother.
My grandma was technically a widow, my grandpa died long before I was born, although I never thought of her as one.
To me, she was always the undisputed head of our family. The fact that she was a woman made absolutely no difference to me, or maybe it just made perfect sense. She was the ultimate matriarch: fluent in comforting words and embraces, always sewing our clothes or stuffed animals back together, taking care of us when we got sick, her cooking that will forever be what I use as a comparison when eating anything else.
Yet she was by no means the stereotypical housewife-y type. She had a strength inside her that influenced every single person who met her, especially her granddaughter. It was a strength that came partly from growing up and raising a family on a ranch, but also from a place of fierce independence. My mother has that same power, and I’d like to think at least some of it has been passed on to me.
They were and continue to be the two most influential people in my world, and I couldn’t have asked for better examples in kindness, selflessness, and most of all, female strength. All things I hope to teach my daughter with the daily help of my mom, just as she did before me.
Some people may think it strange that a 26-year-old would be so insanely excited to be living with their mom. I suppose it may be, but not even a little bit do I care.
For me it’s like I’ve come full circle. And I can’t wait for the next trip around.
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