Grandma’s Shake: A Heartwarming Story of Respect, Love, and Sharing

It was a quiet afternoon in a small town with houses that were closely placed together and the air was filled with the odor of freshly made bread in the bakery nearby. The trees had tall birds chirping and the streets were nearly empty. An old woman lived at the corner in one of the little houses, and her name was Grandma Lila. She was a friendly woman with a warm smile around the neighborhood and the best milkshakes. Although she was extremely old, her hands were still steady in holding a glass and her memory was sound when she shared past stories.

Grandma Lila lived by herself, yet, her house was never vacant. She was frequently visited by her grandson, Rohan. He was a youth, full of life, and not very careful of his methods. He adored his grandma but he adored her famous shakes too much.

Grandma Lila had mixed a cold, thick shake that day. She had mixed up some new fruits, a little milk, a bit of honey and an ingredient of her own that she would never tell. The shake was creamy, smooth and had flavor. She put it into her best glass, the one that had flowers painted on the sides, and put it down very carefully on the kitchen table.

After her afternoon prayers she wanted to savor it. It was not a drink. It was a self reward after sweating and cleaning the house as well as the garden. She put it in the fridge, and she meant to come back in a few minutes. But Rohan had watched the shake through the window. As soon as he saw it his eyes opened wide.

Rohan was hungry. All the morning he had been playing football with his friends, and his stomach rumbled. As he walked into the kitchen and saw the shake gleaming in the warm light his mouth watered. He said to himself, Grandma will not mind when I drink it. She constantly prepares shakes.

But there was another voice that said in his head, She made it to herself. You ought to enquire. Rohan turned his eyes about. Grandma could not be found. There was no sound in the house but the old clock on the wall ticking. The glass was in his reach. The shake was so good it was tempting. His pulse quickened.

Very slowly Rohan crept nearer the table. He reached out his hand to the glass and his fingers were touched by the coolness of the glass. He looked again. Not yet a sign of Grandma. His face smiled. He believed that he had won. He visualized himself drinking the cold shake by the sweetness filling his mouth. The boy considered how good it would be after a wearisome day. He gripped the glass, and was about to raise it.

“Rohan!”

It was a strong and yet a sweet voice, thunder and sunshine. Rohan froze. The glass trembled in his hand and he about spilled the drink. And he turned, and there she stood–Grandma Lila, standing in the doorway, with her eyes sharp, but kind.

She had suddenly, like magic, appeared. She came in with her walking-stick tapping on the floor. Her tiny body was taller at that moment and he knew that she knew it all in her eyes.

Rohan flushed to shame. He could not smile but the words remained caught at his throat.

Grandma came nearer, and gazed at him, not angrily, but dejectedly. She quite calmly accepted the glass out of his shaking hands and returned it to the table.

This shake is not a mere drink, she whispered to me, dear child. It is something that I created with love to myself. You ought to have inquired before you touched it. All a plain word would have done–just a plain word–like, Grandma, may I?

Rohan bent his head. He was tiny, as a child who did something wrong. In this way, he understood that he was so selfish. He adored his grandma but then in that instance, he had been thinking about himself.

Grandma went to the chair, and invited Rohan to sit by her. She spoke in a lower tone.

You lose trust when you take without asking. Yet ask thou and thou hast the respect. Nor is life a matter of getting what you want. It is waiting, respecting and sharing. Do you get it, Rohan?”

He threw his head slowly. Grandma, I am sorry. I must not have attempted theft.”

Grandma smiled and the rivers of kindness in her face deepened into wrinkles. That was sufficient to my hearing.

Since then Rohan never touched anything in the house without permission. He discovered that respect enhanced relationships. He even learned that Grandma wisdom was much more valuable as compared to her shakes.

Grandma Lila also was delighted. She was sure that her grandson was a little wiser on that day. She was also aware that tiny teachings, done with patience could transform the heart of a young man.

And each night after that they sat in the kitchen together, drinking shakes and telling stories. Instead of the house where silence reigned, there were now bouts of laughter, tinkling glass and the affection of family.

And whenever neighbors were passing by they used to smile to see Grandma and Rohan, sitting together, drinking their shakes. They not only resembled a grandmother and a grandson, but two best friends who had found the magic of the simple things of love, respect and sharing.