If you're lucky enough to live in NYC, keep an eye out for your neighborhood Grandma Stand.
The weekly advice stand can be found on street corners and at parks in New York City, starring a rotation of six elders ready to offer a listening ear. Sometimes they chat with little ones, other times with fellow grandmas, but the advice is always free of charge.
“We could all use a grandma to talk to,” Mike Matthews, the visionary behind the wholesome stand, told a local news site called I Love the Upper West Side. From 2013 to 2018, the booth was occupied by Matthews’ sage and sassy Grandma Eileen, who chatted with hundreds of New Yorkers. When she died at 102, the Grandma Stand shuttered - that was, until recently.
Earlier this year, Matthews sent out an Instagram post calling for grandmas with a specific set of qualifications: “good at listening, asking questions, and possessing empathy.” Now, the stand is back up and running for no other reason than to add a glimmer of grandmotherly love to the streets of New York and beyond.
“This world feels so chaotic, isolated, and lonely with everything going on,” Matthews said. “It’s a small thing, but it makes people happy.”
Grandma Connie (a fan favorite) is a friend of Matthews,’ and other people have been suggesting their grandmothers as well. As Matthews says, a bonus is that the Grandma Stand “motivates people to reach out to their own grandparents or elderly mentors they have in their lives, and reminds us of the value of our senior citizens.”
In Matthews’ words, “We could all use a grandma to talk to.”