Diary of a Gen Z Student: Wisdom, wit and warmth from a chat with grandad

I’ll always make time for my grandad — if I could recommend something to people my age that are lucky enough to have grandparents in their life, it would be to prioritise that relationship. I know how much it benefits me to make time to see him regularly

Jane Cowan with her beloved grandad: "He puts things into well-needed perspective for me. His relentless wisdom and humour always mean I leave the conversation feeling better than I did at first."

My grandad isn’t like most grandads. He plays golf with the lads every day. He knows more about history than anyone I’ve ever met. He makes a mean cup of tea. He’s irreverent and ferociously funny.

He has always been an important figure in my life. As a child, I loved when we went for sleepovers in grandad’s house. He always had the house ready before we arrived.

He knew what I liked to have for dinner and that I loved when he had the fire lit.

There is something unique about the relationship you can have with a grandparent. If you’re lucky, they can be this adult in your life that is pure fun. 

They’re not your mom or dad. They don’t have to tell you to go to bed or tidy your room or do your homework.

Spending time with my grandad as a child always encouraged me to act a little differently. Thing slowed down a little when I was in his house. 

So, if he was watching something on the television that I would usually take no interest in, like darts or tennis, I’d sit down to see what it was all about. 

And if he stopped to read a plaque or a sign on the street, I’d stop and read along with him. 

Of course, I didn’t notice that I would act differently around him at the time, but I can recognise that now. 

Jane Cowan with her beloved grandad.

Learning how to have fun and interact with someone that wasn’t the same age as me, was so beneficial for me. It broadened my understanding of people.

Naturally, as I’ve gotten older, my relationship with him has changed. But it has remained significant in my life. 

I have dinner with him most weeks, where he tells me about his week and asks me about college and writing this column. He’s always delighted to read what I’ve been writing. 

But my favourite part of these dinners is the stories he comes with. He tells me about growing up in Dublin, how he could hear the elephants in the zoo being fed every morning from his bedroom, how he worked in England in his early 20s, receiving letters and birthday cards from my grandmother in Dublin.

The reason I’m talking about my relationship with my grandad this week, is that I believe I’m so fortunate to have it. 

And if I could recommend something to people my age that are lucky enough to have grandparents in their life, it would be to prioritise that relationship. I know how much it benefits me to make time to see him regularly. 

Any time I tell him a story of something going wrong in my life, he has that gift that I suspect comes with age, not to sweat the small stuff. 

Problems turn into funny anecdotes. And he’s invariably willing to listen to them. Sitting down to talk with him is often the highlight of my week.

Jane Cowan: "As he was talking about how convenient the Dart is (‘like having your own private train’), I couldn’t help but hope I’m like him some day."

Last week, I was getting the Dart home from Pearse station. As I was about to get on, I spotted my grandad already sitting down, looking out the window. 

With his suitcase tucked beside him, he was on his way home from a weekend in Dun Laoghaire, enjoying the sun. I told him what I had been up to in town for the morning. 

And he talked about his plans for the rest of the week. I had been somewhat frantically running around town that day, doing work to prepare for college in September and worrying about my final year dissertation. 

But sitting down to chat with him for that short train journey soon had the effect that talking to my grandad always has. The things that had been stressing me out a little, didn’t seem particularly important anymore.

As he was talking about how convenient the Dart is (‘like having your own private train’), I couldn’t help but hope I’m like him some day. Going away for the weekend, happily sitting on the dart home, and getting ready to play a golf tournament with the lads the following day. 

He puts things into well-needed perspective for me.

We’ve come a long way from childhood sleepovers in grandad’s house. But I’m never too busy for a chat with him. His relentless wisdom and humour always mean I leave the conversation feeling better than I did at first.