I have never had a fear of growing old. Many people worry that their lives will grow stale or that they will feel purposeless. I know this is not true because my grandma has always been a perfect contradiction to that fear. All the actions she takes seem trivial, but I realize that they have impacted me.

I am extremely lucky to have my grandma live within one hour’s distance from my house. She and my grandpa always come over to visit on both special occasions and random days. They usually come early in the morning to avoid traffic and I have always enjoyed waking up to loud chatter and realizing my grandparents were visiting.

My grandma makes insanely delicious Korean dishes and always makes sure to bring something over. One special part of my grandma’s cooking is the time and effort she takes to perfect it. She prioritizes health and only uses the best organic ingredients and methods to cook. She makes almost everything from scratch and some dishes take more than a day to make. She does this all to bring fresh dishes over to our house. She sometimes worries about her cooking, but her food has never disappointed me.

My grandma also stresses the importance of health to me all the time. I think a lot of people associate old age with laziness or inactiveness, but my grandma is the opposite of this. She signed up for line dancing classes and goes on frequent walks around her area. When I was younger, I remember my grandma telling me to stretch every day to prevent my bones from becoming inflexible. I was shocked to see my grandma able to touch her forehead to her straightened knees, a feat that many younger and older people struggle with.

Despite not having a job and interacting mostly with Korean-speaking people, my grandma takes English classes. I think it is easy to give up learning a difficult language like English later in life when some people might not think it matters as much. That is why I think it is amazing how my grandma takes lessons and practices as well. She never thinks something is pointless.

An intrinsically considerate and motivated person, my grandma inspires me in a way I do not realize sometimes. She constantly encourages me while also reminding of the importance of working hard. I believe that the reason why the encouragement of a grandparent feels so significant is because people associate wisdom with age. Someone who has experienced all of life’s up and downs taking pride in you, at least to me, feels so heartwarming.

Kate Minn is a high schooler living in Northern New Jersey. She enjoys reading, drawing and listening to music in her spare time. She loves to travel with her family and discover different cultures and dishes from around the world.