Asif was a 12-year-old boy in grade six. He had a large circle of friends in both his school and neighbourhood. No wonder this made him proud of his social skills.

One day, Asif was going out to play cricket with his neighbourhood friends when his grandmother called out to him.

Asif got irritated and thought, ‘Oh God! Not again!’

He went towards his grandmother’s room to inquire why she was calling him.

“Asif, I was wondering if you could take me to the nearby park on my wheelchair as the doctor has suggested that I spend some time in the fresh air every day. You know your brother Atif takes me out daily, but he has to study for his board exams, so I thought maybe you could take me there,” grandma said empathetically.

“But … grandma! I have to go out to play with my friends! And they are waiting for me, if I will take you to the park, I will miss my match,” exclaimed Asif.

Grandma let him go while she remained at home. This happened for the next couple of days, but grandma didn’t complain.

When Saturday arrived, to Asif’s great astonishment, his good friend, Zaid, was not there to play with them. Both friends never missed the weekend cricket match without telling each other beforehand. Asif became angry at this.

Just then, Asif saw Zaid coming towards him in quite a hurry.

“Asif, I’m sorry I cannot play today and also later this week as I am urgently going to Hyderabad with mum and dad. You know, grandpa is extremely ill,” said Zaid in an apologetic tone.

“I hope you understand as you also have a grandmother. Our grandpa is very dear to us. Above all, he’s family! Well, I must hurry now, goodbye!” said Zaid as he left running for his home.

Asif was dumbstruck as well as embarrassed. Zaid’s words, ‘I hope you understand, as you also have a grandmother,’ echoed in his mind. He remembered how carelessly he had turned down to take his grandma out to the park.

He realised that Zaid truly loved and cared for his family while he had taken his family for granted and considered himself above everything.

While Asif sat in his room, thinking deep about the incident, his grandma entered the room to ask about his well-being as she had seen him returning early with a sad expression.

This was enough for him. He wrapped his arms around her and told her about Zaid’s grandfather and how guilty he felt over mistreating her and burst into tears.

“Dear, dear, look at the bright side, look what you learnt. We always have time to mend our ways and become a better version of ourselves!” said grandma, smiling.

From that day onwards, Asif realised that no matter how old we get, our first priority remains our family. He also promised his grandma to take her to the park every day.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 3rd, 2019