Do you need a true inspiration story? How about an honest tale of grit and stick-to-it-iveness? Because I have one – and it’ll make you cry, melt your heart, and encourage you to keep going with whatever it is you are in the middle of right now. Are you ready?
Let me tell you about my Grandma Jo, who, on June 3rd, 2021, walked across the stage of her local high school to celebrate something very special. At the age of 85 – just shy of her 86th birthday – she graduated with her high school diploma! Here is her story….
Schooling had not come easily for my Grandma Jo. She can recall one teacher who “taught in a way she could understand,” and that year, she did outstanding. But for the most part, school was a constant challenge. She struggled with reading and therefore had trouble following much of what was being taught.
When my Grandma Jo was in 11th grade, she made the hard decision to stop her studies (which were not going well) and devote her attention to learning a trade. She enrolled in Beautician School. About a year later, she met a soldier, married young, and moved to rural West Virginia, where she had 7 children over 13 years – the oldest being my mother.
Fast forward through many years of life difficulties, family hardships, and personal tragedies to her forties. She received a call from her mother – whose health was deteriorating – asking her to move to Florida and come help care for her. After moving, she told Grandma Jo about a local school for adult education in their area. “Jo Ann,” she said, “I think it’s time you went back to school.”
With the help of the Community Educators, Grandma Jo started a program tailored to her needs. Because she’d never learned to read correctly, she needed to start by relearning. This meant beginning at the third-grade level.
Armed with the appropriate learning strategies, Grandma Jo excelled at her studies. She was making significant headway when the deterioration of her mother’s health caused her education to once again move to the back burner. Caring for her mom – one of her biggest cheerleaders – came to an end in 2002 when my Great Grandma Nana passed away. The following year, she moved up to Minnesota to be with two of her daughters, my mother being one.
While living in Minnesota, Grandma Jo’s desire to finish her schooling grew. One day, she spotted an advertisement sponsored by Community Education in the local newspaper. She decided it was time for her to finish her education for good. With the assistance of her adult educators and two sons-in-law (who became her schoolwork help desk), she completed her education in a year and a half.
Although she walked across the stage in her gown and tasseled hat this past year, her course work was finished in 2020. My 85-year-old grandmother took on distance learning to graduate high school in the middle of a worldwide pandemic! Then in June of 2021, at the age of 86, she was at last allowed to stroll across that auditorium stage to the whistles, hoots, clapping, and shouting of her VERY proud family.
My Grandma Jo has been through a lot in her life: Raised by a hard-working single mother, lived in a boarding house, went through a divorce, experienced financial hardships, sustained physical injuries from a work accident, was caretaker for her ailing mother, and had other health challenges. It took her six decades – that’s 60 YEARS – to finish what she started. But she chipped away at it when she could, in between the roadblocks and detours, and she never gave up.
As I hugged her on graduation day, I told her how proud I was of what she had accomplished. With a peaceful glow and smile of hard-earned satisfaction, she said this to me in her sweet southern drawl:
“Honey, I’m proud of myself! I knew I could do it!”
Friends, have you needed to set something aside for a while? Do you have a goal or dream sitting on the shelf for this season of life? Does it feel like life keeps throwing obstacles in your way? As moms, women, and people of all kinds, our lives are often “interrupted” by surprises – some are good, like having babies and raising kiddos. Some are just hard, like health struggles, personal injuries, or caring for a loved one in need. Our dreams and goals don’t disappear, friends – they are just delayed! Let that delay strengthen your resolve to attain them until you grow into an unstoppable force!
Don’t give up – your time is coming. It’s not over. Keep at it. It may not take you a year, or it may take you 60 years, but I am confident that, just like my Grandma Jo, you will one day say, “I’m proud of myself. I knew I could do it!”
