Scrolling through her Instagram page, you would never know that a close friend or relative of 23-year-old Carolyn Roche turned a year older last week. That’s because last week Roche did something remarkable – she called her grandma on her birthday instead of just Instagramming a photo of her with a cute message. Wow.
“I knew that I wanted everyone to know that I had a grandma and that it was her birthday,” says Roche. “But I realized that my grandma doesn’t have an Instagram, and she really doesn’t understand social media at all, so I had to figure out a way to reach out to her without those means of communication.”
Posting the pic was a no-brainer – Roche had so many photos of herself looking really cute next to her grandma looking just okay. But the real issue was getting her grandma to find out about the post.
“I was choosing a filter for the pic when it hit me,” adds Roche. “I could call my grandma and just like, describe the post to her! And, you know, wish her a happy birthday.”
Roche said making the call turned out to be a cinch, although she did have to text her mom first to get her grandma’s phone number.
“The only number I have memorized is my own and randomly the number for the sandwich place in my hometown,” concedes Roche.
Even though Roche spent most of the call mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, watching the likes roll in on her post, and not listening to her grandma talk she still feels like she accomplished something extraordinary.
“My grandma kept saying how nice it was to hear from me,” Roche explained. “She was saying something about how lonely she is but I don’t know I cut her off to read the post I made about her out loud again.”
Carolyn hopes she can encourage young girls to also call their grandmas on their birthdays.
“It’s great to get likes on Insta,” she says. “But if a post is posted and the person who the post is about doesn’t see the post, it’s like, did it even post? Yes. But like, it’s nice to call your grandma I guess.”
Aw, thanks for being such an inspiration Carolyn!
