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My Grandma's picture
When I was a Little boy my Grandma frequently showed me a picture that was taken at her wedding day. This old piece of paper with a poor quality and crumbly texture was one of her most cherished items. Whenever it was a family meeting, a family dinner, someone’s birthday, or a sad day that picture was always on top of the closet standing. Years passed by and the picture never moved, not even an inch, until one day I decided to ask my grandma what was the reason she kept it there. My grandmother struggled a lot economically when she was a teenager. Her father constantly looked for a job and her mother was always caring them. In fact, she barely finished elementary school. And stories like that kept flowing through her mouth with ache reflecting on her face. When the story of the picture came, her eyes came back to life. It was a memory, a precious memory. A moment cherished by her because it was the day all her problems melted away and she started to be happy. I always asked myself why my grandma seemed the only one in the family that problems didn’t affect her as much. It was the picture, it enclosed everything my grandma was, and whenever she didn’t felt like it, it gave her energy. Everyone on the family heard about that story at least once, I particularly loved it and was lucky enough to hear it once or twice every 2 months. A few years later my grandma passed away, you could say that she moved to a better place, but her picture remained on the same spot. The same spot my grandma cleaned it every day with no excuses, the same spot where she looked at it and felt complete again, the same spot it was placed. The amazing thing to me is that I learnt after my grandma left the main reason that picture was placed there. The main reason why my grandma didn’t move it in 60 years, the main reason why she wanted it to be able for everyone to see. It was placed on a higher place to simulate she was above us, caring for us, and demonstrating that you always can look up for answers. Literally. Today I relate it to an energy charger, to a way to feel my grandma near me. It’s hard not having her around anymore, but the entire family knows we can always count with my grandma’s picture.
