1927. No, it's not a movie, or the title of a mystery novel; or the name to call a contemporary music album. It is the exact date my grandmother was born. A woman who has lived through two World Wars, the rise and fall of several empires (British and Soviet Union) and who was born, grew up and became a mother without ever having known the contraceptive pill.... A lot has happened since that little girl first stepped foot on earth. I was with her last weekend, and she inspired me to write this post...
For those who still have their grandparents alive, hearing them tell their anecdotes is magical enough to make us totally happy. At least for me, the feeling of peace, calm and clarity is almost inexplicable. I still don't quite understand how a woman who was born and lived in the countryside for a third of her life (that's more than 25 years) is still standing; like an oak tree and above all, with a lucidity that deserves a standing ovation for ten minutes straight.
She told me many stories about my uncles, and my mother, but also about her childhood. And her memory is very powerful. I mean, how after so many decades the memories still remain indelible. She still has her first kiss, the first time she smelled love; and that she knew what it felt like to enter its waters. Also, what it was like to live a life with very little electric light and a lot of warm, artificial lighting made of wax candles, kerosene and tree resin.
In her immense wisdom, she told me that she "believed she had found the answer to her longevity"; and she attributed it to a diet rich in nutrients and little or no additives or the excess of sugar that nowadays are not so natural, and unfortunately, common. In addition, my grandmother still does not understand why sedentary lifestyles are so widespread among the majority of people. Originally, she belonged to the "Greatest Generation" (1901-1927). This means that they were born between World War I and World War II; they also successfully survived the Great Depression....
Much of her time now she spends reading. Although you may not believe it, it is real; she still reads, and it is a habit my great-grandfather instilled in her. Certain things are never forgotten or put aside. She is also a woman who has been able to adapt to technology. She always tells me to take care of the camera, they are a treasure. And strangely enough, she remains quite still when I photograph her.... As if she had internalized stillness as a way of "posing" more typical of her time, and of the cameras of those years. Fantastic, simply fantastic.
I admire her love of technology, and her fascination with the Internet. Sometimes, she asks me to poke around Google Maps, just for the sheer joy of traveling, getting to know, seeing the Google Street View and pretending to "walk through it together". That ability to associate moments between her and me and creativity, is something that makes me smile with pleasure and pride. I love my grandmother, and I always love sharing with her. But most of all, learning from her beautiful wisdom.
Because of an accident a few years ago, she uses a small walker to support herself, but she still goes out on the porch every weekend, especially Saturdays and Sundays to read the Bible. She is a woman of habit and with the character of a generation that knew how to fight hard. And that is undeniable. Something that I have learned to be influenced by. Certainly our times, both hers and mine, are totally different, but I am honored to have her by my side. This year, in April, she will be 97? Quite a girl, don't you think?
