Today, July 26, is a moment in which we pay tribute to some people who play a fundamental role throughout our lives. Those that mark part of our personality, and create hobbies, traditions or customs that are maintained generation after generation. And they are none other than our grandparents, with their immense wisdom and their unfailing love for their grandchildren.
And really, if we all think about the most beautiful stage of our lives, the presence of grandparents is very common in most of us, who either came to pick us up from school, took care of us in the afternoons or took us to the most fun plans, and who knows, maybe at the end of the day a little gift falls. They are the people who pamper us the most, and those who give us the most time without asking for anything in return. I don't think there are more generous people than those who feel such great love for others, and we are very lucky for that.
I was asking our Asalvo colleagues about their memories and impressions of their grandparents, and the first reaction was common to all of them: they had a nostalgic smile that only the most beautiful memories can draw. In the end, each family is a world, and everyone told different anecdotes. Some of them saw their grandparents as their heroes, others as their best friends, and others simply cannot conceive the memory of childhood without the constant presence of their grandparents. They told me that they inherited customs from them such as playing cards in the afternoons, having hours of dedication after dinner, cooking with cilantro as a special touch, or not leaving a single vestige of humanity when visiting the countryside or the beach.
In my case, my parents work long hours, so I spent most of my time with my grandparents. My grandfather was a man who never went to school, he grew up in the countryside surrounded by nature, having responsibilities and working since he was little. He had to leave the town he loved in order to provide a promising future for his children, and all of this was achieved thanks to the fact that he spent his entire life working long hours loading bags in a factory. Thus, my grandfather taught me that the desire to learn is more important than having the opportunity to do so; that values such as love, generosity, an open mind and humility are essential to be happy and be happy with others, and that we must respect and know our environment, as well as those who live in it. My grandmother was the daughter of a military man, and she had to live in many places in Spain. She lost her mother at a very young age, and all of this made her the definition of courage. She managed to raise her family by being a mother, cook, plumber, electrician, psychologist and doctor. And when she finally saw that her children were happy and independent, she studied to be able to work in a hospital as she had always dreamed of. From my grandmother I learned that life is very hard, but it is also beautiful if you manage to look at it from another perspective. That nothing is free, and all objectives require effort. And that love is not only shown with gifts or kisses: it is also shown by helping you do your homework, taking you to the park, or simply listening to you. To this day, every day I pay tribute to them by talking about them, and I am deeply grateful for having had the immense luck of having been their granddaughter, and for having been able to enjoy being with them for a long time.
In the end, wherever you are from, the importance of this figure in our lives is common in any corner of the planet. It doesn't matter when or how: just recognize that without them we wouldn't be us, that as a result of The great changes in our lifestyle have led to many being a vital piece in your daily life. This July 26, if you are lucky enough to be with your grandparents, give them all the love they deserve. Although to be honest, it is impossible to return everything they give us.
I wanted to end with some stanzas of the song composed and performed by Walter Bassani entitled “Your sarai”, (“you will be” translated from Italian), which expresses and defines very well the importance of grandparents to be the people we are today: “Grandparents play like children, and they get excited if their children do well(...)Grandparents teach without speaking that without love this world dies (...) You will be a better man if you carry those grandparents in your heart. You already know that those sincere eyes are the children of yesterday”.
