I asked my 81 year-old grandma what she’d do if she were 20 again…
I asked my grandma a question: “If you were 20 years old again, what would you do differently?”
I didn’t expect her answer to hit me the way it did.
She said she would go back to school and become a nurse.
When she was only 13, her father died. That’s when everything changed for their family. Instead of studying, she had to work. She became a helper for other people, washing clothes, doing whatever she could just to earn a little money. She only finished Grade 6.
What broke my heart the most is that she said nobody ever knew she wanted to be a nurse. She kept that dream to herself. Until I asked her.
She’s 81 now.
And hearing her say that made me realize something, sometimes we forget how privileged we are. Today, studying is normal. Back then, it wasn’t. For her, survival came first.
She was the strongest woman I met, my lolo cheated on her but she stand firm. Didn't remarry and when my lolo's mistress died, she welcomes him back to their home. Took care of him when he's bedridden. Never shred a tear even when my lolo died. But when she's sharing that story of her, her voice cracked, and that I know how deep that dream is.
I hope in her next life she would achieve her dreams.