Keep or Give to Old Ladies? ♥

I’ve talked about my grandma many times before. She’s the inspiration behind Painting On Purpose ~ the painting for POP 2024 is still available! All of the proceeds will go straight to The Hope Effect to help them care for orphans.

 

Grandma Neva is 101 years old. And yet still quite young ♥

 

For the last 9 months, I’ve been driving to spend the day with her every two months (7 hours round trip). Last Friday was the most recent trip. Honestly, though, I could go every month, and may start doing that.

 

I think of my trips to grandma’s house as a form of service. The driving, the time, the treats and food and flowers that she receives. Service to someone I love dearly and love to be with… so it’s doubly rad! 

 

It feels good to make her feel loved and happy and like she deserves attention. She's been gracious and generous over the years, that is why Painting On Purpose was created to honor HER. 

 

 

My mom came with me this time, and I had offered our services (to my aunt) to help clean grandma’s room. De-cluttering and organizing tends to be my love language, it ignites me. So, I was excited about efforting to help grandma!

 

Forget that I make my living as an artist for a second, because I’m sharing a before and after drawing (I forgot to take photos and really wanted to remember!) of grandma’s bedroom. 

 

 

 

We worked for 2 hours to fold and sort and hang a pile of laundry that had grown next to her door, only to discover that the gigantic iceberg of clothes was supported by TWO chairs! How does she have 30x as many clothes as I do?? (the answer is: garage sales)

 

With nursing home donations in my mind, I asked grandma for most of the clothes: “keep... or give to old ladies?” 

 

I wanted her to know they were going to less fortunate women. She did a pretty good job at letting go (and we used some executive decision-making, too).

 

We came home with 2 apple boxes, a black garbage bag and four paper sacks of clothes. Yesterday I handed them all off to a woman who will bless a lot of women in her life with them. All of this felt SO good. And grandma still has a closet stuffed full of hanging clothes!

 

I checked in on her the next day and she was in great spirits! 

 

She didn’t understand when I asked her how her bedroom felt, but I like to think that on a wordless level the space and lack of clutter lightens her soul. I know that’s how it works for me.

 

I thought you might like to see/hear this story :) because the people in our lives are so special and when we can help them in a big way, it pays off in our souls. 

 

♥♥♥♥