Marwa Belmadani, 16, Meknes

In Our life, there's always this human being who is so close to us, emotionally of course, with this person, we are always thrilled, and we spend the most enjoyable time ever. No matter how different this person can be from us in the matter of age or race or colour, we feel good talking to this person and sharing with him our deepest and most dreadful secrets because we know he's a keeper, and he will always be there for us no matter what are the consequences. For some, this person is a friend maybe from school or from social networks, for others he's a family member, a parent, a sibling, or a cousin. For me, this person is my grandmother. The person who I devoutly wish to be like when I grow old and the person who makes me happy and optimistic and patient in my life. A sea of words wouldn't be enough to talk about her. When I'm sitting next to her, drinking the delicious tea, she makes and listening to her, to the lovely stories she tells, to the memorable advice she gives, I look at her with great attention and just think how a person can be at a time delightful, kind, careful, modest, faithful, and wise! I know that besides God nobody's perfect, but if there's anyone that is close to perfection it would be her.

Even her name Rahma is a proof of the big mercy her heart shows to people. In our

society, most teenagers see their grandparents as old people who are close minded and a little backward, so they just visit them on holidays and not by choice but because their parents force them .But with my grandmother things are different, I sometimes think that she's closer to me than my own parents, and in somehow I think she's the only one who actually understands me and knows what I'm feeling without even having to tell her. I visit her almost every day, And whenever I'm there she makes my favorite meals and talks with me about everything with big attention, she's like my therapist, one way or another she always manages to find solutions to my problems and insure me and tell me that everything is going to be okay. For an illiterate person, she shares great wisdom and knowledge; I mean nothing she says is ever misplaced or inconvenient, people feel secure and relieved when she talks to them. She's always there to support me during some dark

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times when everything seems to be going wrong by holding me in her arms and braiding my hair and baking the sweetest sweets until I forget every bad thing going on and just be happy and wish to be stuck at that moment forever. Her life was glorious. It still is, she got married so young, she had kids and raised them to be well-educated persons, even after her husband died, she remained a good believer and never doubted God's will, every word that gets out of her mouth is loaded with faith and belief that make me feel peaceful and calm. I think I am the person I am today thanks to her, her kindness and goodness are contagious and for that I am the best version of myself, I try to follow her path and be a good person just like her. Common people and by that I refer to ignorant people believe that women are vulnerable, especially, grey-haired Moroccan women who are seen as ignorant housewives with one ability which is cooking and doing house chores and raising the children, but I'm assuring you that it's untrue because in 50 or 60 years, If I am as half as happy and serene as my grandmother I will be the luckiest person alive. For some people, what I'm saying may sound hypocrite and maybe weird, But I am sure that if they knew my grandmother, they would definitely describe her as I do. You see, besides the fact that she's a tremendous person, she helped me surpass an unpleasant time in my life where I could no longer depend on anyone and suspect everything even God and to be honest, I wasn't expecting that the few words she'll say were going to have such a profound effect on me. I was so pessimistic, never looking at the bright side of things until she sat with me one afternoon and talked to me about how beautiful and meaningful life is and how we should seize every moment of it and consider the falls as lessons that will encourage us in order to be much stronger. I mentioned this little anecdote just, so you take time to observe and think about my granny, a woman that can be represented as the incarnation of tenderness and generosity, a woman that all people should set as an example in their lives. Finally, the only thing I can add is that a person should never underestimate the others by judging them based on their aspect and specifically women because deep down they are leaders and warriors even if they appear fragile and tender.

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