She never stops being good. And there is a real difference between being good and being great or wonderful or amazing, or any other synonyms that you can think of. Being good is having goodness inside you. You can do great things and have the reputation of being great, but to actually be good in your core where nobody can see it is what really matters.
"Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew..." - Dobby, to Harry in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
That quote has always been extremely profound to me. My aunt mentored me when I was young, and we discussed the Harry Potter books a lot. We talked about this line, and ever since then, it has been important that I be not only great, but good. Before then, it never occurred to me that goodness could be better and more important than greatness. Goodness is a quality that I search for in people. It's rare these days, and it is worth so much. This is why my grandma is an absolute gem.
Let me tell you why my grandma is so good:
1. She has been taking care of her parents for as long as I have been alive, and most likely a lot longer than that. She has her 94 year old mother living with her now, and she is so happy to have her there. Of course nobody would allow my great grandmother to live alone, but my grandma took it on with such grace and kindness.
2. She is the humblest human being I've ever met. I mean real humility. People mistake low self confidence for humility all the time. But she has real humility. Her life consists of endless service. She never stops serving, because she doesn't see it as serving. She sees it as what she ought to do as a human being with the ability to serve. She just does it.
3. She is the most thoughtful person ever. This kinda goes with the service thing, but she never stops thinking about what she can do to make other people's lives easier. But it's totally natural. She just does it without thinking about the fact that she doesn't have to.
4. If she's not serving, she's studying the scriptures or something equally as profound. Her head is filled with deep and inspiring thoughts. She always knows what's important, and she pays attention to those things.
5. She's always trying to become a better person (as if that's even possible). She just keeps trying to be better. I'm fairly certain that there are VERY few moments when she's putting energy into something that won't better herself, serve someone else, or make her or someone else happy.
6. She is FUNNY. Not like standup funny, but if you just sit and observe her, she is hilarious to watch. She is absolutely adorable. She's never too serious. She'll be working on something, and she will make a funny face or sing to herself as if nobody is there. She is one of my favorite people to simply be in the same room with.
7. She can whistle like a freakin dream. The only person I've ever heard whistle as good as her in real life is my step dad. She will often whistle songs from various musicals while she works. Usually it's Les Mis or a hymn.
8. She loves the hymns and whistles and sings them all the time. One of my favorite moments that I witnessed of hers was when we were in Vegas with some family over general conference. We were working on packing up and leaving while listening to it. She had her earbuds in while she was doing dishes, and the choir was singing "High On A Mountain Top". She forgot she was wearing earbuds and just belted the hymn. When she noticed me giggling she realized she was singing a song that we couldn't hear. She laughed and said a surprised "oh" at the same time. It was absolutely adorable.
9. Speaking of conference, one of my favorite things about her is how much she LOVES General Conference. Whenever it comes along, it's blasting as loud as possible on any device capable of playing it. General Conference at my grandparent's house is one of my favorite times of the year.
10. She is the queen of bacon. Seriously she is the best at making bacon. It's magical. I'm convinced that she is a fairy. Or an angel or something.
11. Her testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have never met another woman with a stronger testimony. It makes me love the church with all my heart. She is always strengthening her testimony, and I love seeing her reading the scriptures or studying doctrine. She gets so into it. She focuses on the only thing that matters in the world, and tolerates interruptions very well. Her room has the greatest feel about it. It's my favorite part of her house. It's where my grandma learns and prays and ponders because she wants to. She doesn't do it to get attention. She loves it so much, and knows how important it is to keep learning. She is just overflowing with love for the gospel.
Bonus reason: she has created and shaped the most amazing family in the world. We are all best friends. We love each other to death, and we never fight. It sounds like a fairy tale when I describe it to people. We never fight. Ever. We laugh, we play, we talk, we work, and we love. I don't know if there is another family who can say that they love each other enough to never fight. I won the lottery of families. I can't wait for eternity with them.
This is my grandma. Would you just look at this picture? I mean REALLY. HOW ADORABLY HILARIOUS IS THAT. My grandma is the best. I can't believe I have her. It's pretty cool.
BUT SERIOUSLY LOOKIT HER FACE. My grandma is so cool. She can have fun. That's cool. It looks like she's playing with a grandchild or something here. Freaking love her to death.
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