Goats and Soda: NPR

Earlier this month, I wrote about two studies that looked at the evolving benefits of grandmothers. At the beginning of our history, grandmothers played a crucial role in helping mothers raise their children, and scientists believe that this boost from our grandmothers has pushed humans toward a longer life expectancy.

But the benefits of grandmothers go beyond the databases used for these studies. So at Goats and Soda, we asked our readers and some of our regular contributors: How did your grandmother help your family survive and thrive? What wisdom did it convey to you?

We have heard dozens of touching stories about the positive influence of grandmothers around the world. Here are some of our favorite choices.

Leadership lessons of a lamb dish

In addition to all the love that my Nani had enjoyed, she has taught me important lessons about leadership; lessons that I did not understand before having to lead.

Nani is an extraordinary cook, especially with regard to the traditional meal made with rice and lamb cooked with tomato. But every evening at dinner, I noticed something: Nani first served everyone, especially the youngest children, and ate only what was left. It seemed unfair. Nani has put so much effort into cooking for everyone. Why would she want to eat last and often the least?

Years later, at a leadership seminar, I examined how great leaders lead and what are the qualities that distinguish a mediocre leader from an inspiring leader. I came across a story about the dietary habits of the Marine Corps generals. Like my Nani, they ate last and the officers took a seat at the back of the line.

I realized that Nani did not only feed me the world's best lamb curry, but that she also instilled important lessons. She has taught me that passing others before oneself shows that the cause is more important than any person, that the team is more important than any other member. She has taught me that inspiring leaders sacrifice their comfort for the advancement of those whom they lead.

– Junaid Nabi, Kashmir surgeon, public health researcher at Harvard Medical School and Aspen New Voices Fellow

Everyone is important

Mobile phone ways

In the spring of 2011, my 88-year-old grandmother came [from Uganda] visit one of his daughters, Aunt Rebecca, in Boston. I was studying in Boston at the time and I stayed at my aunt's house.

One Sunday, on the way to the church, we stopped at the red light. I took out my phone to check my text messages. Before I knew it, a scathing slap landed on my head!

"Do not you know that it's dangerous to text while driving?" grandmother growled.

"But granny, I'm not driving!" I said as I turned my head in disbelief, the stars still spinning in my head.

Aunt Rebecca was the one driving and I was in the front passenger seat, right. Immediately, I realized that Grandma had wrongly thought that we were still in Uganda, where the driver is sitting right. In the United States, it is the reverse.

As soon as I corrected her, she launched a love at first sight as fast as a ninja and said, "I've always said you do not get hooked on your phone! you not just talk to us more on a Sunday? "

She was always right. Since then, I have drastically reduced the use of my phone on Sundays.

– Serafusa Sekidde, Ugandan Physician, Global Health Consultant and Aspen New Voices Fellow

How to work, how to relax

Julia, my father's mother, taught me the dignity of work. With 30 grandchildren, she trained our family while interesting to each of us. All school holidays, she mobilized us to work at the family hardware store. She organized us into small teams. we all had specific tasks. But exactly at 10 o'clock each morning, we'd take a break to share pastelitos with her and talk about school and work while savoring pastries stuffed with meat.

Elena, my mother's mother, was a loving caregiver and a constant presence in my early childhood. In the hot afternoon of Paraguay, she would make us religiously nap. Grandma would be sleeping with my sister and me. By humming quiet melodies in a soft, low voice, she gently stroked our backs, gently moving her fingers up and down our thorns, until we fell asleep. She called him rasquita – something like a slight scratch. To this day, she rasquita has been one of the greatest simple pleasures of my life.

– Julia Corvalan, Paraguayan International Development Practitioner and Aspen New Voices Fellow

What to do if people do not like you

Language course

A lesson not so old corn

Unselfishness, courage, perseverance, hard work and appreciation for your little things: These values ​​were learned from my grandmother when I was growing up in Kenya.

She told me that she would leave her four boys – one of them my dad – and walk hundreds of kilometers in nearby communities in search of food for her children. . For 40 days, she worked on the farm to get enough corn to feed her family. Upon his return, after these 40 days, my father and his brothers and sisters were celebrating and preparing a large pot of corn for dinner. It was like Christmas Day for them.

Her story reminds me to work hard and appreciate every little thing I have. In everyday life, when things get complicated, I always stop and think about my dead grandmother. If she was able to do it under such circumstances, then I too can do it.

– Esther Ngumbi, Kenyan researcher at the University of Illinois and Aspen New Voices Fellow

The reporters and editors of Goats and Soda also shared stories.

And here is a grandfather shouting for good measure.

Thank you to everyone who shared their photos and memories and, most importantly, to our grandmothers for enriching our lives and sharing their wisdom.