Grandparent love is special and I would define it as unconditional.
They celebrate everything in your life, without asking for anything more.
Ever since my grandparents passed, I forgot how to celebrate things. The big things, the little things, all things.
Holidays were not as special. Birthdays were not as special. Small victories were not as special. And I think I became numb to success. I always felt like the things in my life should be celebrated more than they were, but I forgot how to celebrate.
Little by little, being on sports teams and making good friends showed me how to celebrate again. I was proud of my accomplishments, and I wanted to celebrate my own success as much as others'.
It was odd at first because I had lost knowledge of how to do so. I literally would be successful, feel proud for a moment, and then just move right past it. As if success is an extremely normal thing and not this grand thing we should be celebrating.
It was nice to celebrate things again, and I felt so much love around me. But then that changed again…
Celebrating a championship win turned into questions about where I would play in college, how good I was compared to the competition, and how many points I had scored.
Celebrating a new job turned into questions about the next steps, what the pay was, and if I was sure there were not any other positions that would fit me better.
Celebrating small things turned into a joke, like why celebrate the fact that you carried all your grocery bags into the house in one trip?
Celebrating things turned into expectations of others wanting more. Celebrating things turned into not being grand enough to be worthy of celebrating. Celebrating things turned into me not celebrating anything.
The thing is, I have always remembered how it felt to celebrate with my grandparents. It was simply a celebration of something worthy of celebrating. No questioning the worthiness of it, no extra expectations for next steps and striving for something better, no playing off success as something that happens every single day to everyone.
But I feel like my circle of celebration keeps getting smaller as I am getting older. And that's sad to me. I want to be able to share with my friends and family all the good that has happened in my life, no matter how big or small. But we don't celebrate the same. We can't just look at the thing we want to share and take it for what it is. We are always expecting more or looking at it with our own view instead of just being happy and there for someone's party.
So, I challenge you. Celebrate everything. Celebrate the fact that you woke up today. Celebrate the fact that it is a Tuesday. Celebrate that you just got a new blanket. Celebrate that your friend just had a baby. Celebrate yourself.
Maybe if we celebrate more, we will see there is more to celebrate. And then maybe, we will celebrate like our grandparents used to celebrate.
