Dear Nani,

I hope the days are passing by with peace and prosperity for you.

I hope your days are filled with health and joy as you age.

How are you doing since we last spent time with each other?

I hear good things from mom, but how are you really?

Have the days been passing by faster or slower than normal.

Did you expect anything like this to happen?

I know I didn’t. I was supposed to see you again this summer.

But sometimes things like this happen I guess.

Anyway, although it’s been a couple years since the last time we spoke,

I still think of you fondly and remember the stories you told me,

I still remember the foods you made for me and how we enjoyed each other’s company.

Although there may be people who tried to make me feel a certain way about you,

I understand that sometimes misunderstandings are created on purpose to change the dynamics of a relationship,

Sometimes people begin to feel jealous and begin interfering with the beautiful bond we have.

The forced misunderstandings may have led to some awkward situations, but it hasn’t changed the essence of our love and respect for each other.I will always have an extreme amount of respect for you.

I understand that you have been through a lot of suffering in your lifetime and you still chose to live. I understand that life has brought you down an infinite amount of times but you still chose to rise above them. I understand that you have been hit with struggles that I couldn’t even imagine, nor that you would share with me, but you still chose to live through them instead of letting them drown you.

There are moments that I’ve lived through with your daughter and your other grandchildren that were some of the worst times of our lives, filled with life long traumas that we are still dealing with today.I want you to know that it is because of mom and you that I realized that there is a point to living  a long life.I realized that there is a point to moving past the pains of our generational traumas that came from the pasts.

I am writing this to you to say thank you for pushing past your life’s traumas and doing the best you could to make my mom’s life better. She is doing the same for me and it’s inspired me to create a thriving life outside of what was expected of me in our traditional family household’s expectations.

Thank you for staying alive and handing down the resiliency and tenacious characteristics that you developed all those years ago. Thank you for passing down your intellectual curiosity and love of learning to me. Thank you for passing down your nurturing side and all of your love to both my mother and I. Thank you for reminding me that living life through the ups and downs is what makes the story worth living for.

Life, I know understand is not meant to be perfect, but it is meant to help one grow into who they were born to become. This is something that I realized after my visits with you and I want to remind you that you are an inspiration to me. I’m grateful to have the traits that you developed throughout your life and I will not forget them. I will not only survive the pains like you and my mother, but I will thrive off of all of the challenges that I face and continue overcoming them for however long I live.

Nani, you are a powerful woman and I’m lucky to have you as my grandmother.

Lots of love from your U.S but totally Punjabi Granddaughter,

Harmeet