Grandma Has Some Sketchy Remarks

CONTENT WARNING: Abuse

My grandma has never been one of those lovable types. She’s always been critical, cold, and distant. She’s never been outright abusive, but she’s mean enough to give off ‘Devil Wears Prada’ vibes.

My youngest sister has always loved art and drawing. When she was younger, it was obvious she had a talent, and my parents encouraged it. My grandma was not so inspiring:

Grandma: “What is that supposed to be?”

Sister: “A horse.”

Grandma: “It looks like it should be taken out back and shot! You need to be doing something more productive with your time!”

After a few more incidents like this, [Sister] made sure never to practise her artwork, or even show it to Grandma in any capacity.

One weekend many years later, Grandma is visiting for the weekend. My sister, now nineteen, is out with friends and has left a few drawings out on the kitchen table (she’d been showing them to Mom earlier).

Grandma: “What’s this?”

Mom: “Oh, that’s [Sister]’s handiwork. She—”

Grandma: “—Oh, she finally gave up on that silly drawing and ventured into photography, did she?

Mom: “…that’s… a black and white pencil sketch.”

Oh, the look on Grandma’s face! She looked closer at the amazingly photorealistic drawing my equally amazing sister had drawn, realized that she had just admitted that [Sister] was crazily talented, and quickly changed the subject. 

We all told our sister what happened at the dinner table that night (with Grandma present, of course), and it looked like the old woman was sucking lemons all through the meal.