hi, friends! i’m so happy you’re here. i hope you can feel all of the love surrounding you in this very moment.
yesterday, something magical happened to me – i went to the grocery store.
a new grocery store recently opened up across the street from my grandpa’s apartment complex. with the opening of this new place, my partner and i had the idea of taking my grandpa on a surprise “field trip” to wander around and look at fresh fruits and vegetables in the air-conditioned aisles of somewhere new and exciting.
when we picked up grandpa, i handed him a reusable bag and asked him to guess where we were taking him – he had no idea, so we just kept driving as his eyes were glued to the window.
we first stopped at a nearby coffeeshop and i ran in to get iced oat milk chai that we could drink together as we walked around the store. it wasn’t until we pulled into the grocery parking lot that he finally knew where we were taking him. we got him out of the car with his walker, grabbed our chai, and headed into the store for the most magical, fun-filled 30 minutes.
it felt like we had entered a portal to a colorful new world when we walked through the sliding glass doors. grandpa was so in awe of everything he saw and kept saying, “WOW!! i’ve never seen something so complete!” in-between sips of his iced chai. my partner and i walked slowly around the whole store with grandpa – stopping everywhere he wanted, including the aisle with his all-time favorite blueberry muffins. we laughed in wonder at how many fruits they had and how there was a section set aside for “already ripe, eat-me-today” avocados. “i’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life!!,” grandpa said in his infamous grandpa voice that made everyone around him listen and smile.
we passed by a baby in a stroller and grandpa’s face instantly lit up as he told the couple how precious their little one is. we had free samples and grandpa had the best time talking with the workers at the sample tables, taking a bite of a dried fruit roll and telling them that he wished grandma was here to see how magnificent this new grocery store is. the workers started tearing up at the stories of his 70+ year marriage and world travels. grandpa’s always been quick to share his life-giving stories with strangers… and it always puts a smile on people’s faces. we ended our field trip by going to the self-checkout, which was met with even more awe. grandpa’s task was finding the barcodes as i scanned and my partner added the items to the bag.
for those 30-minutes, i was filled with pure bliss and childlike wonder.
it simultaneously felt like the most ordinary and important thing i’ve ever done.
i walked out of that store feeling like a changed person – the moment caused an internal shift in me. a shift where i was brought to find contentment and enjoyment exactly where i am, being met with a fresh perspective on the routine things of adulthood, like going to the grocery store on a saturday afternoon.
i think we’re going to make it our new weekend routine: pick up grandpa, hand him a reusable bag, grab an iced oat milk chai, and take him on a field trip to the grocery store across the street. what a simple, exquisite kind of joy that i want to experience over and over again.
warmly,
meg