Just When I Thought I'd Heard It All

My visit with Oma Bear was very insightful and fun. Based on my extensive knowledge of her, I have always known that she is a fairly liberal-thinking woman for her age and religious orientation. But she surprised me once again while we discussed the woes of my drug-dealing cousin. I thought she would have something pretty moralistic to say about the whole thing - but she is really sympathetic! She, like me, figures there's lots of worse things someone could be doing in the world than doling out marijuana for money. Huh. Who'd have thought? She also was disgusted with the fundamentalist who tried to bash my friend for distributing condoms in Africa. Another huh.

I know I am very lucky to still have a grandparent around at this age that I can still have visits with and whom I can actually consider a friend. Sure, there was some annoyances to her stay with us; they were the kind of things you might find annoying in a young child. She likes to wander away from us when we're in public and we'll find her striking up a conversation with the strangest person. My father does the same thing - maybe I'll end up like that too! It made me realize how reserved I've become since living in the city. I'm friendly enough, but I don't feel the need to chat with every single person I cross paths with. If I was to psychoanalyze my grandmother, I suspect it has to do with the intense loneliness that she often feels. She has spoken many a time about not feeling like she belongs anywhere. Is this the curse of a wanderer?

It's funny that she would even consider herself a wanderer. She has lived in a total of five different homes her whole life - I had reached five different homes by the time I was 21. That's because I went away to school though. Anyway, I do intend to make my next home quite permanent...