What did your grandmother never get to say?
27 responses
perhaps nothing, and in between it, the things that went missed.
perhaps the way her life went from her own family’s to my mother’s, and later, searching for peace.
a lot, nothing at all, everything maybe?
muted ferry
May 10
May 10, 2026 at 11:10 AM UTC
I live with my grandmother she still alive but she never got to tell her brother(my great uncle) how much she loves him
copper ridge
May 9
May 9, 2026 at 4:08 PM UTC
I'm sorry for being a selfish and entitled hag.
i'm sorry for hurting you, it was so insensitive of me to be this bitter about my bitter life.
wide kettle
May 9
May 9, 2026 at 3:23 AM UTC
My grandmother has said everything
She ever needed or wished to
And we all have benefited, everyone
We are better off for her
weary magpie
May 7
May 7, 2026 at 11:10 PM UTC
That she was a good person,
and that I would believe it.
hushed stoat
May 6
May 6, 2026 at 8:33 PM UTC
she didn't say much
as the world was harsh to her
but i wished she had said
"i accept you and i love you"
i wish we were close
i wish you had more to say
other than hateful remarks
we were never close
but i hope you're resting in peace
humble atlas
May 6
May 6, 2026 at 2:36 PM UTC
She said many things to him
With blows and holes and spittle flying
No feather floated
No wings could rest
While the wind carried away,
fleeting,
fleeing
From the nest
To soar to greater heights alone
She watches, mòmò, as seasons grow
slow heron
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 11:32 PM UTC
She wasn't my grandmother
But I loved her like one
Though no blood linked us
We shared a great love
When I was quite little
She had issues with her heart
But I did not understand;
I knew not when she'd part
And so as our time
Drew nearer to its end
Quality time together
Became too easy to spend
I didn't know what
I would've said last I saw her
When, house ravaged and flooded,
On her arm a pulse monitor
I should've said I love you
Neither of us said goodbye
windswept elm
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 9:16 PM UTC
"How much she loved to see me in the dress she stitched for me. I found out she did after her passing when I looked through her journals and she wrote about how much she loved seeing me in the dresses she made for me. Found out 5 years later."
copper orchard
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:20 PM UTC
my grandma's mouth was full of tar
her hands were waisted to the point of char
she used to curse the weight of her scar
she never got to say I love you
darkness was frowning at her from afar
late ivy
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 5:05 PM UTC
I was never close to my grandmother.
I saw her all the time,
but the only words I shared with her were simple greetings and farewells in broken Indonesian.
I wish I could've conversated with her, about her life, her dreams and hopes.
She was quiet--not interactive, but a strong and grumpy old woman nonetheless.
I don't know what silent words and thoughts she wished to say,
but I could feel the silence weaken at times.
The words she kept within are probably endless,
and now those words are lost.
blue stoat
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 4:20 PM UTC
“ I’m am too-tired
I can’t do this now “
rusted kettle
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:11 PM UTC
My grandmother never told my mother that she loved her.
dusky elm
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:04 PM UTC
She loved him
to the ends of the earth
till the end of the days
she said it
but not enough
she has regrets that can never be undone
she loved him
that's all the mattered
copper cloud
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 2:56 PM UTC
Scratchy cardigans
And ruffled socks
Saucers of tea
Gone cold
Christmas dinner
She can't make
Anymore
head of the PTA
I see pictures of
Her
Cat eye glasses
And half smile
Doesn't reach the
Eyes
She never got
to say
No
Always the oldest daughter
Always the mother
Her brothers both
Died
And her sister pierced
Her
Own ears
And her daughters
Aren't catholic
Anymore
She never got
To fight
To be more
Than
Who we
Thought
restless harbor
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 2:01 PM UTC
My grandmother never could say,
"I'm full."
So she filled cookie jars and pie tins and Bundt pans because
they were also
just a little bit hollow.
She emptied herself into children and bathtub wine and her rosary beads
and they were full.
warm shore
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:23 PM UTC
she never got to tell me she was sorry for raising such a pos like my father
fierce wren
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:02 PM UTC
She never got to see my face
and never said hello
she hardly even knew my mom
but she still loved her so
slow lantern
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 10:39 AM UTC
To the grandma that I never met
Still I wish to meet
to be greeted with your laugh
to be kissed with your love
to be cared like those children you bore
seeing you in my mom
she still remembers you
so much yet so little so I am surprised
her eyes bore tears to the memory of you
still, I love you
will you love me too?
weary creek
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:57 AM UTC
I was little
Never knew her
Only pictures of a reflection
Her life was never in mine
Only memories of my parents stories
Never knew my Grandparents.
Wish I had
Just stories
Life was vacant without them.
copper moss
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:22 AM UTC
i'll never hear her be proud of me
i'll never hear her be excited when i qualify in her field of work
i'll never hear her clap again
i'll never hear her say i love you
but i did
i did hear her say i love you
i did hear her say she is proud of me
maybe she doesnt know today
but i know she would have cherished every moment
she cant speak anymore but she never left anything unsaid
frail swallow
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:18 AM UTC
She carried unsaid words
like warm bread cooling,
a softness she never learned
to offer aloud.
Her stories stayed folded,
her warnings quiet,
her blessing unfinished.
Listen in the silence,
the breath between breaths,
and you may hear
the beginning of
what she meant
to give you.
patient barn
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:50 AM UTC
She never got to say congratulations
Or see me walk the stage at my graduation
She will never hear me say "I do"
Breast cancer robbed her of that event before I even meet the one I will marry
Much less set a date
shy marsh
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:48 AM UTC
In the days of old
In one household there.could be two or three classifications
So my great grand father being white and my grandma being more Mauritania looking
There was a mixture of white, coloured and Indian
When my mom and dad fought
She.would bundle us into a car with my.dad.
From PMBURG to Johannesburg.
Our night would be spent in the car.
Not once did she acknowledge us
Or say come inside my dear children.
wandering pine
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:24 AM UTC
Stories
upon stories
and I never heard hers
Wishes
for a better future
hers go unheard
One day
I'll meet her
will she be proud? Ashamed?
I swore I'd fight the hate
that took her family
that took her claim
I swore I'd fight the hate
that left six million corpses
in its wake
dusky field
May 4
May 4, 2026 at 10:41 PM UTC
perhaps nothing, and in between it, the things that went missed.
perhaps the way her life went from her own family’s to my mother’s, and later, searching for peace.
a lot, nothing at all, everything maybe?
muted ferry
May 10
May 10, 2026 at 11:10 AM UTC
I'm sorry for being a selfish and entitled hag.
i'm sorry for hurting you, it was so insensitive of me to be this bitter about my bitter life.
wide kettle
May 9
May 9, 2026 at 3:23 AM UTC
That she was a good person,
and that I would believe it.
hushed stoat
May 6
May 6, 2026 at 8:33 PM UTC
She said many things to him
With blows and holes and spittle flying
No feather floated
No wings could rest
While the wind carried away,
fleeting,
fleeing
From the nest
To soar to greater heights alone
She watches, mòmò, as seasons grow
slow heron
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 11:32 PM UTC
"How much she loved to see me in the dress she stitched for me. I found out she did after her passing when I looked through her journals and she wrote about how much she loved seeing me in the dresses she made for me. Found out 5 years later."
copper orchard
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:20 PM UTC
I was never close to my grandmother.
I saw her all the time,
but the only words I shared with her were simple greetings and farewells in broken Indonesian.
I wish I could've conversated with her, about her life, her dreams and hopes.
She was quiet--not interactive, but a strong and grumpy old woman nonetheless.
I don't know what silent words and thoughts she wished to say,
but I could feel the silence weaken at times.
The words she kept within are probably endless,
and now those words are lost.
blue stoat
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 4:20 PM UTC
My grandmother never told my mother that she loved her.
dusky elm
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:04 PM UTC
Scratchy cardigans
And ruffled socks
Saucers of tea
Gone cold
Christmas dinner
She can't make
Anymore
head of the PTA
I see pictures of
Her
Cat eye glasses
And half smile
Doesn't reach the
Eyes
She never got
to say
No
Always the oldest daughter
Always the mother
Her brothers both
Died
And her sister pierced
Her
Own ears
And her daughters
Aren't catholic
Anymore
She never got
To fight
To be more
Than
Who we
Thought
restless harbor
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 2:01 PM UTC
she never got to tell me she was sorry for raising such a pos like my father
fierce wren
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:02 PM UTC
To the grandma that I never met
Still I wish to meet
to be greeted with your laugh
to be kissed with your love
to be cared like those children you bore
seeing you in my mom
she still remembers you
so much yet so little so I am surprised
her eyes bore tears to the memory of you
still, I love you
will you love me too?
weary creek
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:57 AM UTC
i'll never hear her be proud of me
i'll never hear her be excited when i qualify in her field of work
i'll never hear her clap again
i'll never hear her say i love you
but i did
i did hear her say i love you
i did hear her say she is proud of me
maybe she doesnt know today
but i know she would have cherished every moment
she cant speak anymore but she never left anything unsaid
frail swallow
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:18 AM UTC
She never got to say congratulations
Or see me walk the stage at my graduation
She will never hear me say "I do"
Breast cancer robbed her of that event before I even meet the one I will marry
Much less set a date
shy marsh
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:48 AM UTC
Stories
upon stories
and I never heard hers
Wishes
for a better future
hers go unheard
One day
I'll meet her
will she be proud? Ashamed?
I swore I'd fight the hate
that took her family
that took her claim
I swore I'd fight the hate
that left six million corpses
in its wake
dusky field
May 4
May 4, 2026 at 10:41 PM UTC
I live with my grandmother she still alive but she never got to tell her brother(my great uncle) how much she loves him
copper ridge
May 9
May 9, 2026 at 4:08 PM UTC
My grandmother has said everything
She ever needed or wished to
And we all have benefited, everyone
We are better off for her
weary magpie
May 7
May 7, 2026 at 11:10 PM UTC
she didn't say much
as the world was harsh to her
but i wished she had said
"i accept you and i love you"
i wish we were close
i wish you had more to say
other than hateful remarks
we were never close
but i hope you're resting in peace
humble atlas
May 6
May 6, 2026 at 2:36 PM UTC
She wasn't my grandmother
But I loved her like one
Though no blood linked us
We shared a great love
When I was quite little
She had issues with her heart
But I did not understand;
I knew not when she'd part
And so as our time
Drew nearer to its end
Quality time together
Became too easy to spend
I didn't know what
I would've said last I saw her
When, house ravaged and flooded,
On her arm a pulse monitor
I should've said I love you
Neither of us said goodbye
windswept elm
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 9:16 PM UTC
my grandma's mouth was full of tar
her hands were waisted to the point of char
she used to curse the weight of her scar
she never got to say I love you
darkness was frowning at her from afar
late ivy
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 5:05 PM UTC
“ I’m am too-tired
I can’t do this now “
rusted kettle
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:11 PM UTC
She loved him
to the ends of the earth
till the end of the days
she said it
but not enough
she has regrets that can never be undone
she loved him
that's all the mattered
copper cloud
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 2:56 PM UTC
My grandmother never could say,
"I'm full."
So she filled cookie jars and pie tins and Bundt pans because
they were also
just a little bit hollow.
She emptied herself into children and bathtub wine and her rosary beads
and they were full.
warm shore
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:23 PM UTC
She never got to see my face
and never said hello
she hardly even knew my mom
but she still loved her so
slow lantern
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 10:39 AM UTC
I was little
Never knew her
Only pictures of a reflection
Her life was never in mine
Only memories of my parents stories
Never knew my Grandparents.
Wish I had
Just stories
Life was vacant without them.
copper moss
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:22 AM UTC
She carried unsaid words
like warm bread cooling,
a softness she never learned
to offer aloud.
Her stories stayed folded,
her warnings quiet,
her blessing unfinished.
Listen in the silence,
the breath between breaths,
and you may hear
the beginning of
what she meant
to give you.
patient barn
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:50 AM UTC
In the days of old
In one household there.could be two or three classifications
So my great grand father being white and my grandma being more Mauritania looking
There was a mixture of white, coloured and Indian
When my mom and dad fought
She.would bundle us into a car with my.dad.
From PMBURG to Johannesburg.
Our night would be spent in the car.
Not once did she acknowledge us
Or say come inside my dear children.
wandering pine
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:24 AM UTC
perhaps nothing, and in between it, the things that went missed.
perhaps the way her life went from her own family’s to my mother’s, and later, searching for peace.
a lot, nothing at all, everything maybe?
muted ferry
May 10
May 10, 2026 at 11:10 AM UTC
My grandmother has said everything
She ever needed or wished to
And we all have benefited, everyone
We are better off for her
weary magpie
May 7
May 7, 2026 at 11:10 PM UTC
She said many things to him
With blows and holes and spittle flying
No feather floated
No wings could rest
While the wind carried away,
fleeting,
fleeing
From the nest
To soar to greater heights alone
She watches, mòmò, as seasons grow
slow heron
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 11:32 PM UTC
my grandma's mouth was full of tar
her hands were waisted to the point of char
she used to curse the weight of her scar
she never got to say I love you
darkness was frowning at her from afar
late ivy
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 5:05 PM UTC
My grandmother never told my mother that she loved her.
dusky elm
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:04 PM UTC
My grandmother never could say,
"I'm full."
So she filled cookie jars and pie tins and Bundt pans because
they were also
just a little bit hollow.
She emptied herself into children and bathtub wine and her rosary beads
and they were full.
warm shore
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:23 PM UTC
To the grandma that I never met
Still I wish to meet
to be greeted with your laugh
to be kissed with your love
to be cared like those children you bore
seeing you in my mom
she still remembers you
so much yet so little so I am surprised
her eyes bore tears to the memory of you
still, I love you
will you love me too?
weary creek
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:57 AM UTC
She carried unsaid words
like warm bread cooling,
a softness she never learned
to offer aloud.
Her stories stayed folded,
her warnings quiet,
her blessing unfinished.
Listen in the silence,
the breath between breaths,
and you may hear
the beginning of
what she meant
to give you.
patient barn
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:50 AM UTC
Stories
upon stories
and I never heard hers
Wishes
for a better future
hers go unheard
One day
I'll meet her
will she be proud? Ashamed?
I swore I'd fight the hate
that took her family
that took her claim
I swore I'd fight the hate
that left six million corpses
in its wake
dusky field
May 4
May 4, 2026 at 10:41 PM UTC
I live with my grandmother she still alive but she never got to tell her brother(my great uncle) how much she loves him
copper ridge
May 9
May 9, 2026 at 4:08 PM UTC
That she was a good person,
and that I would believe it.
hushed stoat
May 6
May 6, 2026 at 8:33 PM UTC
She wasn't my grandmother
But I loved her like one
Though no blood linked us
We shared a great love
When I was quite little
She had issues with her heart
But I did not understand;
I knew not when she'd part
And so as our time
Drew nearer to its end
Quality time together
Became too easy to spend
I didn't know what
I would've said last I saw her
When, house ravaged and flooded,
On her arm a pulse monitor
I should've said I love you
Neither of us said goodbye
windswept elm
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 9:16 PM UTC
I was never close to my grandmother.
I saw her all the time,
but the only words I shared with her were simple greetings and farewells in broken Indonesian.
I wish I could've conversated with her, about her life, her dreams and hopes.
She was quiet--not interactive, but a strong and grumpy old woman nonetheless.
I don't know what silent words and thoughts she wished to say,
but I could feel the silence weaken at times.
The words she kept within are probably endless,
and now those words are lost.
blue stoat
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 4:20 PM UTC
She loved him
to the ends of the earth
till the end of the days
she said it
but not enough
she has regrets that can never be undone
she loved him
that's all the mattered
copper cloud
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 2:56 PM UTC
she never got to tell me she was sorry for raising such a pos like my father
fierce wren
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:02 PM UTC
I was little
Never knew her
Only pictures of a reflection
Her life was never in mine
Only memories of my parents stories
Never knew my Grandparents.
Wish I had
Just stories
Life was vacant without them.
copper moss
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:22 AM UTC
She never got to say congratulations
Or see me walk the stage at my graduation
She will never hear me say "I do"
Breast cancer robbed her of that event before I even meet the one I will marry
Much less set a date
shy marsh
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:48 AM UTC
I'm sorry for being a selfish and entitled hag.
i'm sorry for hurting you, it was so insensitive of me to be this bitter about my bitter life.
wide kettle
May 9
May 9, 2026 at 3:23 AM UTC
she didn't say much
as the world was harsh to her
but i wished she had said
"i accept you and i love you"
i wish we were close
i wish you had more to say
other than hateful remarks
we were never close
but i hope you're resting in peace
humble atlas
May 6
May 6, 2026 at 2:36 PM UTC
"How much she loved to see me in the dress she stitched for me. I found out she did after her passing when I looked through her journals and she wrote about how much she loved seeing me in the dresses she made for me. Found out 5 years later."
copper orchard
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 6:20 PM UTC
“ I’m am too-tired
I can’t do this now “
rusted kettle
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:11 PM UTC
Scratchy cardigans
And ruffled socks
Saucers of tea
Gone cold
Christmas dinner
She can't make
Anymore
head of the PTA
I see pictures of
Her
Cat eye glasses
And half smile
Doesn't reach the
Eyes
She never got
to say
No
Always the oldest daughter
Always the mother
Her brothers both
Died
And her sister pierced
Her
Own ears
And her daughters
Aren't catholic
Anymore
She never got
To fight
To be more
Than
Who we
Thought
restless harbor
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 2:01 PM UTC
She never got to see my face
and never said hello
she hardly even knew my mom
but she still loved her so
slow lantern
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 10:39 AM UTC
i'll never hear her be proud of me
i'll never hear her be excited when i qualify in her field of work
i'll never hear her clap again
i'll never hear her say i love you
but i did
i did hear her say i love you
i did hear her say she is proud of me
maybe she doesnt know today
but i know she would have cherished every moment
she cant speak anymore but she never left anything unsaid
frail swallow
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 3:18 AM UTC
In the days of old
In one household there.could be two or three classifications
So my great grand father being white and my grandma being more Mauritania looking
There was a mixture of white, coloured and Indian
When my mom and dad fought
She.would bundle us into a car with my.dad.
From PMBURG to Johannesburg.
Our night would be spent in the car.
Not once did she acknowledge us
Or say come inside my dear children.
wandering pine
May 5
May 5, 2026 at 12:24 AM UTC