How my Grandma Carol taught me about the true meaning of familial love.

It isn’t territory, tradition, pride, or even convenient. It isn’t even a cold sense of “respect.”

So often I hear “I’m vegan or vegetarian except for when I visit my grandparents once a year.” That sounds loving, but:

My grandma Carol wasn’t vegan, of course but when she learned I was, she was so excited to go to the grocery store with me before Thanksgiving and find organic, vegan food so we could figure out how to make a lovely meal for me.

That’s love, not pressuring people to give up their values in order to fit in. She taught me a wonderful lesson there.