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My Grandparents

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These are my grandparents. They both lived well into their 90s.

Do you see how content they look? They were married for over 70 years and lived in this same house for pretty much all of that time.

They lived a very simple life, never owned a car, were not into foreign holidays, lived in a very cozy house full of lots of laughter, fun and love. And they brought up three children, one of which is my dear Mother.

I realise, too, that they were the most spiritual people I have ever known, without ever having any kind of traditional spiritual conversation with them.

They’d rather talk about tea and cake than the Tao and kale. They didn’t scrape their tongues clean in the mornings, they didn’t drink warm water with lemon or have green smoothies with avocado and quinoa, I’m pretty sure they drank whilst standing up and didn’t have a footstool whilst sitting on the loo. They ate cooked breakfasts, the fat off the ham, they put tea and coffee in their mouths rather than up their arses, a downward dog was taking their pet out for a walk down bishops hill, and visioning had something to do with cleaning their glasses before they played darts or cards.

I don’t recall ever seeing my Grandma wearing heavy make-up to cover her beautiful natural face. I’m pretty sure my Grandad didn’t spend hours in the gym to develop a six-pack. He was always more of a keg man, enjoying an occasional pint of his beloved Adnams ale.

They preferred to work at jobs rather than on themselves, my Grandma always cooking up some magic in the kitchen, my Grandad strong as an ox yet the most gentle and soft-hearted man that you could ever meet. He’d cry if his dear Annie was in any kind of pain, and distraught with tears when we said goodbye to each other for the final time, I thanked him for all the love in our family which felt like it came through him.

They were not concerned with the phases of the moon, numbers on clocks and doors, the energy of cats passing in the street, interplanetary orbits, or any behavioural strategies that took them out of now and hence away from each other.

Anything that happened in their pasts remained there, gone, without it having to define the enjoyment they got from simply being with each other in every moment in the present.

They didn’t give a fuck about any of that stuff!
They simply loved each other.

And in that simplicity life was very long, very loving, so much fun, and mostly easy. They were never trying to be anybody, and in that they allowed it to be easy to love each other. Without so many of the complications many of us like to entertain today.

God bless you Grandma & Pop. They left 15 and 8 years ago.

I see this picture every day, and am always grateful for the reminder to come back to the simplicity of love
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