My Walk with Grandma by Elona Michael

The other day my grandmother asked me to take her on a walk. I said ok and put on my sneakers and the most modest outfit I could piece together. I opened the door for her and all of a sudden we were in the beaming hot sun walking down the concrete sidewalk parallel to a long aisle of townhouses. For the first five minutes it was silent. I could hear the rattling from the wind brushing against the freshly cut grass of my neighbor’s front lawn. The sun was shining a bright yellow, and the summer air was thick and suffocating. “You know, walking is good for me. It’s good for my knee.”

“Yes exercise is very important,” I said back confidently.

“So your father is going to California. I wish he could have brought us. I have family there. But traveling with my knee is tough.”

Suddenly, I was oblivious to the periodic tap of her cane hitting the concrete, guiding us on our route.

“Yes, me too, I love California. I remember going last time and the weather is so nice. When I grow up I want to live there.”

She shot me a smile that covered up her heavy gasps and then stopped. We stood in the shadow of a large tree that hovered over the sidewalk. I looked at the beaming leaves above us and thought about how in a couple of months they were going to fall off and die. Then new leaves would form and the cycle would happen all over again. My grandmother pointed out the purple plants by our feet that stood in our neighbor’s lawn. “They’re beautiful,” she said. “Yes they are. I never noticed.”

We then continued along.

“I want to cook again. Sometimes I feel so useless about not doing anything and just sitting around.” “You’re not useless. You’ve done so much. It’s time to rest.” I played that sentence back in my head. They were a poor choice of words. “I always wanted to ask you to go on a walk with me, but you were always busy with Cody. I did not want to interrupt.”

Her heavy gasps started again. “Yes I know, but feel free to ask me anytime and I will always be free.” “When I lived in Rome with your grandfather the people would take their dogs out once in the morning before work and then once when they came home.”

We both laughed.

That was the first time she mentioned my grandfather around me.

We talked a lot. We talked about her university, her art, my cousins, and the weather. And I will never forget that. —Elona Michael ’24