The reason why I am writing a review on this topic is because today morning I received a call from my grandmother(my uncle called me saying that my grandma wanted to talk to me). I usually call her once a fortnight and I had called her about a week back, but she felt that it was a long time away! This call really touched my heart.
My grandma is broken hearted. She lost her daughter(my mother) a few years back and recently, also lost her son-in-law(my dad) who was more like a son than a SIL for her. He used to get her all the snacks and eatables she wanted.
My grand mother is 84 years old. I being the first grandchild, have always been her favorite. She stays with my uncle and I get to meet her once or twice a year depending on the frequency of my travel to Kerala.
There are time I try to find out what she would like to have and she replies back, *I just want you to call me just as you do now. Do not stop calling me. Visit me when you come to Trivandrum, just as you do now*. It leaves me just speechless and emotionally drained!
What can I(or we) gift our grandmothers or for that matter our grandfathers.
***Love***: The best gift is probably to show our love and affection we have for them.
***Pocket money***: My grand mother likes to buy snacks for herself(from a near by bakery). More than eating the snacks, she likes to buy the things herself. She is just like a child. So I give her money that she can use for such purposes without depending on anyone.
** When your are near them:**
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*** Time***: Give them some of your time. Whenever possible, sit with them and talk with them. Believe me, they love it. It makes them feel loved.
*** Hold their hands***: As you sit with them, just hold their hands. They like it! They feel that you care for them. Give them a hug!
**When your live far away:**
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***Call them***: Call them often. They love to receive calls, specially when there are people around. My grand mother makes it a point to tell everyone around, *you know, this is my grand daughter, calling me from Pune*. She gets excited when my daughter talks with her too.
***Meet them whenever you can***: My grandma gets excited to see me, specially my daughter! She tells my daughter(her great grand daughter) about my child hood days. My daughter loves to hear about *mummy’s history*(as she calls it) making it sound as though I am an Egyptian mummy.
*** Send them photographs***: Send them your family photographs. They just love to have such things with them. Atleast I know that my grand mother does.
*** Wacky stuff***: I had once gifted my father a coffee mug. When my grandmother saw that, she just made a passing remark, *I wish I had something like this to drink my tea and milk from. * So I got her one and she was so excited about it. She now has everything-milk, tea, and even water in her coffee mug.
These gifts don’t cost much, but they mean a lot to the grand parents. I think they deserve atleast this much if not more! what do you say?