What I learned from my grandmothers

My favourite article of the week was this beautifully written personal essay in the New York Times. It reminded me of my own grandmothers, who I have found myself thinking so much about since the UK went into lockdown nearly two weeks ago. When I say grandmothers, I am actually referring to both my grans and my great auntie Joyce who was like a third gran to me. I have actually been thinking of writing about them for a while in this newsletter because I have been thinking about what influences us to be the way we are. 

I’ve always been independent and comfortable spending time alone but where does that come from? Do some people find it easier than others because of how they were brought up? It’s a conversation I’ve had with my sister, who is very similar. The conversation made me wonder how influenced we are by what we see when we’re kids. In our family, we were surrounded by lots of strong independent women so I guess it’s no surprise that some of that rubbed off. 

I’ll start with my I…