Who do you turn to when you need some advice and comfort? For many, only a grandma will do. But if you don’t live close to your family, you can visit a Grandma Stand near you.
In the Texas city of McKinney, in the middle of the downtown farmers market, sits a Grandma Stand that is part of the holiday magic, reported CBS News. On a chilly December Saturday, Grandma Nancy – one of three volunteers that man the stand – was volunteered by her daughter.
While Nancy McClendon, 71, didn’t know what to expect at first, she has taken the role to heart.
“I absolutely love it,” McClendon told CBS. “Grandmas are nonjudgmental and loving people. Sometimes it's nice to talk to someone who's basically a stranger, but you still feel a connection with [them].”
The Grandma Stands
McClendon is just one of the volunteers who staff Grandma Stands in different cities, but the idea didn’t start in Texas. It actually began in 2012 in New York City.
Mike Matthews was working one day when one of his colleagues walked into his office and shut the door. According to an interview on CBC Radio, she told him that she had just broken up with her long-time boyfriend and was having a rough time.
That sparked an idea and he suggested that his colleague speak to his grandmother. “I said, ‘Here's my grandma's landline number. She lives in Washington. You’ve never met her, but she's just full of empathy, and present, asking questions, and she might be a nice one to talk to,’” Matthews told CBC.
While his co-worker thought the idea was odd she did call Matthew’s grandmother, Eileen Wilkinson. The pair made a connection, and they had a standing call every week for months.
When Matthews saw how much speaking to his grandma helped, he decided to spread the love to others. He set up a lemonade stand with a sign that read: “Talk to my 95-year-old Grandma.”
For years, people would chat with Wilkinson via a video connection. “I have no idea how many people she talked to through those years, but at least a thousand,” Matthews said. “She had never had any hesitancy caring and just being present with whoever sat down on that chair.”
Wilkinson passed away in 2018 when she was 102. Matthews decided to keep the Grandma Stand open in her honor.
Sharing Grandma Wisdom
Since then, people have set up stands in other US cities, Paris and Berlin. Matthew is speaking to people in Canada about setting up stands in Windsor and Edmonton, and Mexico. The newest city is the holiday pop-up in McKinney.
All of the stands have volunteer Grandmas taking shifts and it is a meaningful experience for the volunteers and the people who are seeking advice, comfort, and kindness.
McClendon told CBS that people speak to her about everything from heartbreaks to small joys. “Anything from ‘I lost my pet,’ to ‘I lost my grandma,’ to ‘my basketball team lost last night,’” she said.
But for her, the most important thing is to offer kindness. She said to always choose kindness, choose love, and choose patience. Something most Grandma’s would agree with.
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