On My Grandmother
This is my grandma.
She was 102 years old when this photo was taken.
She died last May. She was 103.
For the last 20 years of her life, she lived alone in a small bungalow in rural Finland. She lived in the same small town for all of her life.
I call her Mummu (that is the Finnish for Granny).
She was one of the best human beings I ever knew.
She also had one of the most accidentally* eco-friendly lifestyles I have ever heard of.
*It really was accidental. It mostly came from a sense of frugality and the need to save money. She is aware of climate change though — she told me how much the winters have changed in the last 20 years. And she would know.
— She only ever turned the heating on when it was really cold outside.
— She used water minimally, doing the washing up in a single bucket. She didn’t even like to run the tap to wait for the hot water — she uses the hob to heat it up instead.
— She never threw anything away unless it really can’t be fixed.
— She used the same reusable bottle to keep some water in the fridge (an old blueberry vodka bottle I think — now yellow with age) since I’ve been alive.
— She owned the same furniture for decades.
— She doesn’t have a great many things and it’s very, very rare that she buys anything at all, except food.
— She never even considered buying a mobile phone. What’s wrong with the house phone she’s had since 1990?
— She never travelled further than the UK.
— She never drove and never owned a car. She used to cycle everywhere and walk everywhere else, before she got to old.
— She always recycled her newspapers.
— She wouldn’t waste a single thing, not even a pizza crust.
— She never drank, smoked or did anything for no reason.
— She never left the light on when she’s not in a room.
— She loved people.
— She never owned a pet.
— She showered rarely, wore the same clothes for weeks, and smelt great.
— She never dyed her hair or wore make-up. Moisturiser when her skin needed it.
— Her clothes will last longer than many people’s lifetimes.
— She ate meat, but so little that it barely made a difference.
— She used to be confused by the idea of veganism and drank her coffee with a drop of cream. It’s delicious like that. Why would you use margarine when you can eat butter?
— She wouldn’t choose organic over cheaper food, but you can bet that most of what she ate (potatoes, potatoes, milk and sometimes carrots) comes from somewhere quite nearby.
— She spent most of her adult life living on small farm where they grew things and kept a few cows.
— She lived in a total of four different houses.
She should have written a blog on eco-friendly living. But, alas, she never had a computer or an internet connection.
The idea that my job revolves around this large lump of titanium baffled her. So do translation apps. But she was remarkably good at looking at photos on iPads.
These are some of the wise things that she said to me the last time I went to visit her. Maybe one day someone will turn them into inspirational posters:
“War is terrible”
“Be honest.”
“Work with integrity.”
“Humans are the biggest beasts in the world.”
“The world is bad.”
“Follow your own path”
“Put more butter on your potatoes.”
“Be who you are”
“Is he a good man?”
“Drink and eat whatever you want.”
“Be happy with what you’ve got.”
“Who knows which religion is right”
“You have to love every person.”
“Money and politics are really dirty.”
Her grandfather used to say, “put your right shoe on first” but she can’t remember why.
We were sitting at the table once and she looked out of the window at the little mosquitos and wondered if they were hungry and cold.
She was one of my very favourite people. I don’t like to say that I’m proud of anything that I had nothing to do with, but I am so proud to be able to share some genes with her.
When I grow up, I hope I’m a bit like Mummu. The world would be a much better place if we all were a bit more like her.
