There are few people in this world who love us with such purity, such constancy, and such depth, that their very presence feels like home.

For many of us, those people are our grandparents.

Grandparents are the quiet anchors of our lives. They may not always stand at the center of the spotlight, but they are always there—holding us steady, reminding us of who we are, and showing us, by example, how to live with grace. Their importance is not shouted. It is whispered, felt in the smallest gestures—a warm meal waiting, a gentle hand on the shoulder, a smile that says, “You are safe. You are loved.”

And perhaps what makes their love so extraordinary is this: it asks for nothing in return. Grandparents don’t love us for our accomplishments, our titles, or the image we project to the world. They love us simply because we are theirs. They see us at our best, they forgive us at our worst, and somehow, through all of it, they believe in us more than we believe in ourselves.

But here is the cruel reality: we don’t always realize the weight of their love until time reminds us that nothing on this earth is permanent. Too often, we assume they will always be there—sitting in their favorite chair, telling their familiar stories, waiting with open arms. And then, one day, the chair is empty. The stories fall silent. The arms that once held us so tightly are no longer there.

That absence… it is a silence that echoes. It is a grief that does not vanish, but settles into our bones. It is looking at an old photograph and feeling your chest tighten, wishing for just one more conversation, one more chance to say thank you, one more moment to say I love you.

And yet—this is where the miracle of grandparents shines the brightest. Even after they are gone, they never truly leave us. Their lessons echo in our choices. Their laughter resurfaces in our own. Their kindness flows through the way we treat others. Their prayers, their sacrifices, their dreams—they live on inside us. Every time we remember their words, every time we live by their example, every time we love the way they loved, we bring them back to life in the most powerful way possible.

Grandparents are not just part of our past. They are part of our forever. They are stitched into the fabric of our being. They are the roots that ground us, the voices that guide us, the love that carries us.

So today, let us not only mourn their absence, but let us honor their presence—in us, around us, and beyond us. Let us live in a way that would make them proud. Let us cherish the values they gave us. Let us love our families the way they loved us: deeply, selflessly, and without condition.

Because to have had a grandparent is to have been touched by something eternal. And though their hands may no longer hold ours, though their voices may no longer speak aloud, their love—oh, their love—remains. Always.