Meghan Edmiston always looked at her grandmother as a guardian angel and a source of inspiration. Edmiston’s grandmother lost her father at the age of four, graduated high school while four months pregnant and had three kids by the age of 23. She did all this while taking care of her mother who was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
For Edmiston, a junior social work major, the story-telling contest organized by the ULM Gerontology program on Wednesday was the perfect place to share her grandmother’s story.
The theme of the contest was “The Courage of My Grandmother.”
According to Dr. Anita Sharma, the Gerontology program coordinator, the event highlighted the roles on grandparents in a person’s life. “It was quite heartening to see how much a younger generation felt inspired by an older generation of women who set examples for them and became their role models,” Sharma said.
Like Edmiston, Jacy Barron took the opportunity to share the story of her nana who always put others first even when she started losing her memories. Barron touched the audience with stories of her nana helping her clean her room and attending almost every sports event of the family.
All three winners, Edmiston, Barron and Crystal Matthews, won $50 cash prize each. The contest celebrated the Women’s History Month by focusing on an older generation of women who became role models for their children and grandchildren.