Do you know what else I have, grandfather? I have you, I have you who give me so much.
Letter to my grandfather
Dear grandfather,
I am, as you mean, the girl of the stars, your first granddaughter. You call me that because every time I go to visit you I ask you to see the stars. In the city they are not seen so clearly, with you it seems that they can be reached and that reassures me. Everything seems to be living calmer and without so many complications. I am aware, from what you and Grandma tell me that it has not always been this way. Of course you have worked a lot and you have had difficult times.
Parents tell me that before you had to fight very hard and there was not even half of what you do now. You lived through wars, you went hungry, you cried, you couldn't go to school because you had to work. Now as you say we have everything and we complain. Sometimes you make me see how lucky I am. You speak of the grandmother as a fighter woman, who raised her children alone because you worked for years outside of Spain. You say of grandmother that she was a pioneer, who struggled to be not just a housewife, nor your wife, but mother and woman, strong and brave.
You don't know how happy it makes me that Mom or Dad decide to spend the day with Grandma and with you. At your house, in the village, I have a great time, better than when you come home. In the town there is much more to do and I can be outdoors all the time, run, get wet in the river, lie down in the field, feed the neighbors' animals such as chickens and cows ... Do you know grandpa that I have friends who have never seen a chicken? At home it is common to breathe stress and rigid schedules when no vacation. You always want to play cards or marbles with me. Now they don't take those games, I'm not very good at them either, but I see you smile and I like it a lot. You look younger…
Grandma always makes cookies or cake for me and when I get home at night, Mom gets angry because I don't want to eat dinner, sometimes my belly hurts. Dogs always jump on me and want me to throw the ball at them and you yell at them because you are afraid they will accidentally throw me to the ground. They are very big and heavy. I like to run with them and go together to take them for a walk in the mountains.
Your house always smells of freshly picked flowers and fresh fruit. Grandma likes to put a vase in every room and make sure it looks pretty. Grandma always asks me to bring a basket of seasonal fruit to the parents. Then Mom makes me juices and smoothies for a snack that I love and when my friends come home they have the same as I do.
Grandpa, were you as happy as a child as I am? I have many things. I have toys, friends to play with at school, a house full of comforts, the town, my cousins and uncles ... In summer I have a great time in your pool. I shoot with you and you play a shark. The grandmother asks you not to try so hard making noises and gestures, but your soul is that of a child and you ignore her.
I wish you were always with me. When I'm sad, you hug me and kiss me and you don't insist on asking me if I don't feel like talking. You can ignore dad's orders not to give me candy or soda, you know that for a day nothing will happen to me. And the stories that you teach me? You don't read me creative writing don't even give me the tablet, you tell me by heart. They are the best and most imaginative I have ever heard! You say they are true stories from your childhood. I don't feel like watching television with you, your anecdotes are better.
Do you know what else I have, grandfather? I have you, I have you who give me so much. Many of my Friends They don't have their grandparents, they are sad and they say they would like to play with them like I do. Thank you grandfather for being here and for what you teach me. Parents can always count on you, even if you find yourself tired, you never tell them no. I hope grandpa, you are always by my side. You say that you will never walk away, but I know that one day I will not feel your kisses as I do now, so today I do not want to stop giving them to you.
Happy grandparents day. I love you. I love you grandpa.