Gifts From My Grandmother

I did not receive many material gifts from my grandmother, but she gave me so many priceless gifts in lessons learned and timeless wisdom. She was a person of limited means, but always made the best of whatever she had. All of the love and care she had was freely given, and she taught me to do the same. Nothing was ever wasted in her household.

I was immensely fortunate to have my grandmother play a critical role in my childhood. She was one of the people who was directly responsible for my care, education, and development. Following my parents separation, my mother, sister, and I moved in with her. This arrangement became a beneficial one for all of us. It afforded my mother access to childcare for my sister and I while she worked for our living on various self employment jobs. By having us in her house, my mother was able to attend to household maintenance and demands.

Widowed young and with six children to support, she faced immense hardship. Lacking formal work experience, her skills weren’t what employers typically looked for. However, through sheer grit and perseverance, she found employment as a patient sitter, caring for those in the hospital who had no family to be with them. It was her job to see to their basic needs and alert hospital staff if the patient needed attending. In order to survive and provide for her family, my grandmother had to uproot her family from their home in the country and relocate to the busy big city of New Orleans, La.. They moved into a small, low income apartment, the newly constructed St. Thomas Projects.

City life was not agreeable to my grandmother and she began planning her return to her quiet country home. After she secured a stable income through drawing social security widows’ benefit, she purchased a tract of land and a house, and for it. After a few years, she was able to move back and lived the rest of her life growing a garden, enjoying her grandchildren, living a peaceful life.

My grandmother’s ability to make things function was something she learned out of sheer necessity. The constraints of a fixed income dictated a finite amount of available funds, and the disappearance of these funds necessitated the development of alternative strategies. With her exceptional ability to make the most out of any resource and her skill in rationing, she was able to ensure that everything lasted for the entire month.

Education and intelligence were a big influence in my grandmother’s childhood. Her mother was exceptionally bright and passed on her love of learning to her children. She was an avid reader and it was said by my grandfather “You would let the children tear the house down around you with your nose in a book!” Reading is something I definitely inherited from her. From an early age, I acquired a love for reading, and would spend hours devouring whatever I could get my hands on.

I will always treasure the precious memories and lessons I learned from my grandmother. My childhood was made infinitely better due to her influence. As the years have passed, I have had many instances where I needed her advice, and my heart would ache from her absence. There are many things I wish I had asked when she was here, but as a child and teenager, it never occurred to me she would not be here one day. I’d like to think she would be proud of the person I have become but I am not certain. Her advice and lessons shaped me into the person I am today. I have tried to keep that knowledge alive and pass it to the next generations, but I fear it may soon be lost. Times are very different now, but the wisdom remains relevant. Some things never change and there is always something we can learn from those who cross our path. Treasure your loved ones while you have them, learn as much as you can from them . You can not understand how much you will miss them until they are gone.

That’s all for now, I’m just here trying to change the world one story at a time!

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© Sarah Tagert 2026