Those Who Choose You

They aren’t waiting for you to become anything

Photo by maryam Rad on Unsplash

At my sister’s wedding, I watched as my grandmother sat still, clearly not wanting to miss any of the proceedings. There was only one problem: she could not understand what was being said.

It was in Nairobi, and people in cities speak either Swahili or English. My grandmother spoke only our native language, Kamba. I feared that she was bored, so I tried to entertain her, but she was clearly not interested. Her granddaughter was getting married, and that’s all that mattered. She was not bored; she didn’t wish the event was taking place in the village where she’d obviously be more comfortable. She simply did not care about any of those things.

She could see that her granddaughter was happy, even when she could not hear what was being said or understand any of the urban songs people were dancing to.

I later found myself reflecting on my grandmother’s attitude. Maybe all grandmothers just have infinite love and would do anything for their grandchildren. But it …