Yesterday was International Women’s Day, a time for all
women to be celebrated. As I was thinking about inspirational women there was
one person at the forefront of my mind.
In this day and age with our obsession with internet it is
very easy to find a “hero” on social media but if you look up from your phone
you may find they are sitting right next you, and in my case, that’s my grandma
( “Babcia Marysia”).
Don’t worry, I am not going to dig into my personal life,
instead, I will tell you what I think makes her so special to me and many other
people I know she had impact on.
Strength
I don’t mean physical strength, although my grandma is well known for picking up my friends and rugby tackling my husband...
What I mean, is the mental strength and resilience. My grandma
is a real tough cookie, I tell you that. She has had a very challenging and
difficult life. She was born in Vilnius and immigrated to Poland with her
family; she was looking after her ill bed ridden mother for over 13 years, tragically
lost her 11 year old son, brought up her own family, including me in communist
Poland which was a very tough and unpleasant time. Although she was the one who
often needed support, she never asked for it, but instead she always offered it
to anyone who needed it. She was the mainstay and example to follow not just
for me but people around her.
Positive attitude
Everyone who knows my grandma will tell you that she is one of the most positive people they’ve met. Our house was always full of people. The door bell would ring constantly and people would pop in for coffee, a chat or to alter their clothing (my grandma was a seamstress). Despite her struggles and the hardship she has gone through, a smile hardly ever leaves her face. She always jokes around, chats to random people in a shop, and you may think... that’s annoying, however, she has this natural aura about her that makes people drawn to her and like her. She is one of those who doesn’t moan, doesn’t blame, and instead puts a smile on her face even if a little bit of pain creeps in.
Encouraging
Independence
I was brought up by my grandparents since the age of 7. I grew up in the 80ties when there was hardly any health and safety guidelines, kids would play outside until it was dark, there were no mobile phones to check on me.
I remember when I was about 10 years old I joined a dancing
school which was about a 20 minute bus journey from home and another 5 minutes
walk from the bus stop. I remember travelling on my own by bus during cold,
dark and snowy winters to go for my classes and I remember over hearing some
parents criticising my grandparents for allowing me to travel on my own. You
know what, in retrospect, that’s the best thing they could have done for me.
They trusted me, they believed in me, they built responsibility in me, and that
was the best way of encouraging me to be brave and independent. Some people may think it was crazy and unacceptable,
but if it wasn’t because of this, maybe I wouldn’t have had enough guts in me
to take leaps in faith that brought me to where I am today.
I admire my grandma for who she is, what she stands for and
I am entirely grateful for everything she has done for me. We find inspiration
in different people and for different reasons. We should cherish and celebrate
our heros and if we have a chance tell them what impact they made on us. Who
knows, maybe one day we will become somebody’s hero? Wouldn’t it be nice to
hear what difference we made in someone’s life?
