Grief is an overwhelming experience, and everyone copes with it differently. As such, it can be challenging to determine the right way to honor a loved one who has passed away. Yet, A New York City man named Mike Matthews found the perfect way to celebrate his late grandmother’s legacy — and create a sense of community in the process.
Matthews, the grandson behind the stand, first created it back in 2012 to connect his then 95-year-old grandmother, Eileen, to other New Yorkers. He purchased an 80-pound lemonade stand on Etsy, carried it around town, and placed his laptop and a chair by it before video-chatting his grandmother.
“My grandmother lived in Seattle with my parents. I lived here in New York and I had the idea of kind of letting New York virtually connect with my grandmother,” Matthews told ABC7. “So I set up a little lemonade stand. Put a laptop on it. Noise-canceling headphones. And then I would place it somewhere in the city and then my grandma could virtually meet anyone in New York City that was walking by.”
Since his grandmother was unable to travel, Matthews made it his mission for her to meet New Yorkers virtually. Every week he prepared a different prompt to bypass any small talk and sat on the chair and chatted with his grandma. Some of their conversations were emotionally vulnerable while others were a bit more lighthearted.
Unfortunately, Matthew’s grandma passed away at the age of 102 in 2018. Initially, he planned to retire the Grandma Stand; however, between 2018 and now, society has experienced a lot of turmoil and Matthews decided to bring it back to help ease the anxiety of others.
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“About six months ago, I had an overwhelming feeling of everyone being on edge, stressed out, and lonely and thought we need to have some good,” Matthews said during an interview with Time Out. “So I said, why don’t we bring this back?”
Given Matthews’ grandma was no longer with him, he enlisted the help of some other grandmothers who were willing to dish out advice and have conversations with New Yorkers. In an Instagram posthe listed the qualifications: “good at listening, asking questions and possessing empathy.”
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“I think she would be watching this and saying get as many grandmas involved as humanly possible so at least they have a moment to shine and be heard,” Matthews said.
“Selfishly, this is for me to honor my grandmother. I feel like this is what she’d want me to do on a weekly basis,” he continued. “I have my own life. I have my wife and my family and a job. She used the term ‘old people.’ She loves saying that for words, just value old people. See the value of them and don’t look past them.”
It’s amazing how moments of grief and sadness can create connections between otherwise strangers. Matthew’s dedication to honoring his grandmother’s legacy, keeping up with the grandma stand, and allowing New Yorkers an opportunity to receive some wise advice from grandmothers is truly something special.
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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
