I heard it once. And only once. The person's voice many revere as their anchor. The love of their lives. The protector. The giver of hugs and kisses.

Their Grandmother.

And, they come in all sizes; shapes; and colors.

The one thing they have in common is unconditional love for their children's children. The infectious smiles that erupt just by the anticipation of a visit. Remembering your birthdays with greeting cards and gifts.

Interacting with you in numerous ways, such as filling a void you may feel you need in your life, such as a confidant when you may not want to confide in a parent. Or simply, emotional support. And can't forget about the leniency and shield you may require that parent protest.

They are willing to learn all about your life activities and feelings about life. So many parts they play in your life that it's difficult to pinpoint just one aspect that they can influence.

Oh, if only I knew that others have experienced. I'm told it's like imagining you're gliding on the wings of a dove. I sat many days, months, years wondering what it would be like. How would I feel. And how would I react to unconditional love.

If only.

And there she was in the background all the time, hesitant to reach out for fear of rejection.

If only parents could foresee what estrangement does to children, perhaps they would reconsider a decision made in haste to distance themselves from their parents.

In some cases, the effects can be life changing to grandchildren. Attempting to locate ancestors and discover their history and stories may be insurmountable.

Let alone the effects of not being able to participate in the "grandmother experience".

When older, I was told that she had passed away. How can one mourn what one never truly knew or personally experienced.

For my current freestyle collage, my theme involves the concept of unconditional love by a grandparent. I present my theme in a Freestyle collage form. Although I usually include the current contest photo, I'm not required to. However, if you'd like to join in any current contest, just visit the LMAC Community page.

In preparing my theme, I discovered a lovely free-sourced image of a female of color. So striking was the image the woman portrayed that I imagined her a loving grandmother with that infectious smile.

I then utilized Canva to blend the different type images. Below are my steps in which I began with a blank, white canvas, then added layers of elements, removing backgrounds, resizing, detaching elements from their backgrounds, duplicating, colorizing, and repositioning items as needed incorporating the tools at my disposal in my Annual Pro Membership Subscription.

Below are the images I included to complete my theme:

Below is my completed collage design:

Thanks for your visit. I appreciate it. I hope you like my freestyle collage theme.