My grandma is a complete original, and no one can be like her unless they were born that way. I was. My grandma is tough and stubborn, she never lets anyone help her and she will never let on if she’s in pain. She has a twisted sense of humour nad she funnels her frustration and anger into her crazy sense of humour and love. She was a nurse and always was a nurse, she cares about everyone. She never believed that a person should be written off because they were different. She helped whoever she could. We are exactly the same.

My grandma came to visit once, my mom and I were waiting to pick her up on the other side of the gates. My aunt and she were coming for my mom’s 50th birthday, and their plane was landing on my 18th birthday. So I stood and waited. When they came down and out passed security my grandmother shouted: “MARIAH, TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL I NEED A SHOT IN MY BUT!” across the airport. That was the was she greeted me after not seeing me for six months. My aunt said a nice and civilized “Happy Birthday.” I will never forget the way she said that. I’ll never forget the way she laughed when I tried to explain texting to her. Or the same laugh when my cousin showed her snap chat filters. Her laugh is contagious, and I laugh the same way.

My grandma said something ridiculous once then I answered with something equally ridiculous. My grandpa looked up horrified and said: “Dear god, there’s two of them.” My Grandma and I then disintegrated into a fit of laughter with my grandpa rolling his eyes at us.

She taught me to be tough. She showed me that it was ok to be a tomboy because I grew up with brothers because she did too.

Everyone’s been asked what they want to be when they grew up. When I grow up, I want to be like my grandma. I think I’m well on my way to being the most important women I’ve ever met.