After many years away, I finally returned to one of the most familiar places to me -- my grandma's house in Newberry, South Carolina. We spent the days eating peaches, recounting stories (family lore and history alike), and watching romance movies on Hallmark. It was with her hands that she helped soothe me as a child, read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to me and my brother on Christmas Eve (as was tradition), and cook something up for us all when the family would stumble in tired and cranky after a long road trip.
In May of 2023, these same hands waited for me to arrive to pick lettuce from her garden to fix me a sandwich, drove down the street to attend her church meeting, hung family memories on the wall, sewed together my cousin's prom tuxedo, made and jarred her own blueberry jam, and embraced me as I came in went in one short weekend.
These are grandma's hands.