love your grandies

today i was lucky to be able to spend some time with my yiayia -panayota- and papu -janis- my grandparents who are very, VERY greek and gave me all my greek genes-nose, hair colour, amount of hair, i got it from them.

i haven't spent a lot of time with them in the course of my life and i really am kicking myself for not doing so because they are such beautiful people. my yiayia has dementia and is going through some real health struggles but my papu. wow. i snuck into their back gate and here was my 80 year old grandfather mowing his lawn in crazy hot heat while yiayia sat inside and had a look of despair on her weary olive face. every day, he cooks and cleans and feeds her and speaks to her as she declares her deepest worries of things in the past that never actually happened, and he sits their and listens to her. the man literally exudes patience and love and he has the most twisted sense of humour.

my best friend, annette, sent me an article about minimalism and how when it is applied into your life it brings you so much more happiness. that everything unnecessary that you strip from yourself-things that you have collected to shape your identity that don't actually validate the core essence of who you are-you have more time and energy to spend developing your attitude and behaviour and your relationships.

i learnt so much from my grandparents today. about how i want to be and also how i don't want to be. that is the beauty of humanity in that even in the negative, their can still be a growth for at least someone. it is never neutral, never unchanging. and what a wonder that can be for all of us.