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A Sympathetic Ear

Every now and then, we just need somebody to listen to us.

Whatever the issue at hand, we can find facts all over the place—on social media, in our inboxes, and on the news, whether we get it from TV or TikTok.

So yes. When something’s eating at us, delving into the issue in search of information or explanations isn’t hard.

But what about just feeling heard?

That’s where the grandmas come in. I came across this story a little while ago, and I’ve been meaning to share it with you ever since; it just tickled me.

Down in McKinney, Texas, a team of volunteer grandmas took turns during the holiday season, sitting at a purple lemonade stand. At least, it looked like a lemonade stand, but for the big purple sign proclaiming that it’s actually a “Grandma Stand.”

Volunteer nanas from the local senior center sat there and listened to … well, to a father looking for tips to handle his three little ones. A woman worried about losing her connection with her husband. The young couple dealing with fertility issues. And that’s just for starters.

The listeners don’t have psychology degrees. They do have many years of dealing with their own issues and the problems of friends and family. As one of them put it, “What the use of being old if you can’t share from your life experiences?”

How did this project get started?

A New York reporter got the ball rolling seven, eight years ago when he connected a colleague with his grandmother for a chat. The young woman, a Brooklyn hipster going through a break-up, said it was the weirdest thing anyone’s suggested to her.

It also turned out to be helpful enough that the two kept talking every week for years. That’s what gave Mike Wilkinson the idea to open a Grandma Stand on the streets of Brooklyn, using a cheap laptop to connect the New Yorkers with his grandma in Washington.

Wilkinson says his grandmother must’ve talked to hundreds of people before she died at the age of 102, “just caring and being present with whoever sat down on that chair.”

And he points out, apart from the volunteer Grandmas, “we’ve lost a lot of connection.”

Wilkinson says that’s what people find so refreshing about sitting down at the Grandma Stands.

The idea is spreading.

The Good News Network says Grandma Stands may well pop up this year in other North American places. 

I can see why this idea is catching on. There really are a lot of us who could use someone to really listen to us.

You might want to look into it. Or if there’s no Grandma Stand near you, you can always talk to me with a comment on the blog. But please … don’t call me “Grandma.”