My grandmother is one of my role models.
She has taught me many things. The most important of these I learned by observation.
My grandmother is/was a true Emirati bedouin. People of the desert. Unlike my grandfather, who belonged to the sea-faring folk. Later to be called "the civil". She did not always belong. Yet she made the most of her new environment. She adapted, she learned, but still she defines herself as a member of "the people of the desert".
There are many people to this day who belong to the family and the community who don't really like her. From what I've overheard from my mother and aunt, they are rude and despicable. How very civil indeed! (sarcasm intended).
Still. No matter what they say or do. My grandmother is gracious and hospitable. She is kind, and she never responds to their wrongdoings.
Now THAT is inspiring. Something a lot of people strive to achieve but very few actually do. To treat others as you would like to be treated. To be nice to people not because they are, but because you are.
This could be the greatest lesson I have ever learned from my grandmother. Perhaps my whole family even.
She has taught me many things. The most important of these I learned by observation.
My grandmother is/was a true Emirati bedouin. People of the desert. Unlike my grandfather, who belonged to the sea-faring folk. Later to be called "the civil". She did not always belong. Yet she made the most of her new environment. She adapted, she learned, but still she defines herself as a member of "the people of the desert".
There are many people to this day who belong to the family and the community who don't really like her. From what I've overheard from my mother and aunt, they are rude and despicable. How very civil indeed! (sarcasm intended).
Still. No matter what they say or do. My grandmother is gracious and hospitable. She is kind, and she never responds to their wrongdoings.
Now THAT is inspiring. Something a lot of people strive to achieve but very few actually do. To treat others as you would like to be treated. To be nice to people not because they are, but because you are.
This could be the greatest lesson I have ever learned from my grandmother. Perhaps my whole family even.
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