My mom rarely spoke about the grandmother I never met. Family heirlooms finally opened a door to our family's past.

Tech Insider : Business, Style, Travel
Left: a young couple after the man in the photo returns from serving in the Air Force. Right: An engagement ring and a bracelet.
The writer never met her grandmother (shown with her husband before they married), but was able to ask her mom questions about her after she inherited family heirlooms.

Courtesy of Isobella Jade.

My 98-year-old grandmother is the most positive person I know. I think it's the secret to her long life.

Tech Insider : Business, Travel
The author's grandmother wearing a pink shirt and khaki pants.
The author's grandmother is 98 years old.

Courtesy of Stephanie Mork

I'm 57, have kids in college, and I'm also a grandma. People sometimes don't believe me.

Tech Insider : Business, Travel
Family posing for photo
The author has two kids in college and an older one who has two kids of his own.

Courtesy of the author

Hearing stories of her past travels and going on trips with my grandmother taught me how to enjoy life by appreciating the smaller moments

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel, Business
On the left: Varisha Tariq's grandmother and mother at the beach. On the right: the author with her grandmother and mother.
The author's grandmother, shown with the author's mother (left image) on the beach in Goa, India, and with the author and her mother (right image) in Dubai.

Courtesy of Varisha Tariq

My mom told me she never wanted grandkids. When I became pregnant, she was distant and absent — until she met her grandson.

Tech Insider : Business
a grandmother watching her grandson knead dough
The author's mother (not pictured) didn't want grandchildren.

Cultura Creative/Getty Images

My family took our 90-year-old grandma on an RV camping trip. It reminded us to never underestimate older relatives.

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel, Business
The writer and her grandmother on a camping trip in Pennsylvania.
caption TK

Erica Marin Schwartz

My grandmother is one of the most important people in my life, but political disagreements have driven a wedge between us

Tech Insider : Politics
Bella Bromberg sitting on a blanket with her sisters and grandmother
The author, left, with her Halmoni and two younger sisters.

Courtesy of Bella Bromberg

I'm an only child who was raised by my grandmother. My childhood was lonely, but I'm still choosing to be child-free.

Tech Insider
Marissa Higgins wearing a black top and standing against a brick wall.
Marissa Higgins was raised by her grandmother.

Courtesy Marissa Higgins

As a professor, I had my college students write thank-you letters. The exercise renewed my faith in young people.

Tech Insider
a student in a college classroom writing in a notebook
A professor told her students to write "thank you" notes.

Skynesher/Getty Images

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