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:
-
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:
-
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?