"My grandparents are nostalgic people, both in thought and practice. My mom considers them to be borderline hoarders because they tend to keep everything, even things of the most minimal sentimental value. The amount of photos that my grandpa has taken with his small point-and-shoot camera is easily in the thousands and the photo albums they have could be in the hundreds, especially just peering briefly in their basement. There is this hilariously horrifying red outfit that my grandparents have insisted that every Glanzer child take a photo in. My mom wore it, my uncle wore it, and each grandchild has had their turn in it. When I was young, I was easily frustrated by having to stop every 5 minutes to take a photo. Now, it's even easier to fake a moment for the sake of Instagram or Facebook. Yet, that's never what it was for them. It was the history of the moment itself, the circumstance of the photo that was important to them. I guess it runs in the family.

I spent my week here observing my grandparents from a different perspective than I ever have before. Per usual, my grandma still made bread the way that she always does when I come to visit because she knows I love it. My grandpa made sure to correct me when I said I was "full" after eating a big meal. "Grain bins are full," he says. "You 'have had enough'." And as always, they remind me to put on bug spray to which I stupidly don't listen to and end up with a million scratched scabs on my arms and legs. 
But a lot of things have changed. My grandma doesn't turn off her soaps when I come into the kitchen anymore, attempting to shield me from whatever sexual escapade the characters are complaining about. My grandpa and I always end up in debates over the role of theology in politics or discussing our shared uncertainty over both Calvinism and Arminianism. I used to spend late hours of the night playing with the antiquated toys they've saved from my mother's childhood and now I spend late hours of the night simply talking to them. In some ways, the change is jarring. I welcome it."