I have this theory that every grandma’s house has its own smell. For mine, her house always smells like the same perfume she’s worn my whole life. I can’t tell you the name of her perfume, but I can tell you what it looks like and exactly where she keeps it on her bathroom cabinet.

Occasionally the smell of freshly baked cookies overpowers the smell of her perfume at my grandma’s house. Knowing her signature recipes, I can tell you within a few seconds of walking in the door just exactly what she has in the oven.

I imagine other grandmas’ houses smell nostalgic in the same type of way, perhaps instead smelling like coffee or tobacco or lasagna or freshly baked bread.

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In the same way I believe grandmas’ houses have their own smell, I also believe grandmas’ houses have their own feeling of safety, warmth, and love that’s not found anywhere else on this planet.

For me, staying the night at my grandma’s house growing up always meant staying up late playing card games and playing outside barefoot, swinging on the tire swing outside in the summer sun.

I can still picture my grandma’s smile back then. If you were to show me a picture of her back then and right now side by side, I could probably notice a few extra wrinkles, but in my mind, she hasn’t aged any, and her smile still looks the same to me now as it did back then.

As I’ve gotten older, my visits to Grandma’s house look different but no less special. Grandmas grow older and become great-grandmas. Getting to see my kids spend time with their great-grandmother is a blessing I wish everyone could experience.

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My grandma, now in her 80s, no longer gets on the floor to play with Lincoln Logs like she did with me when I was a kid, but she is no less attentive and loving, sitting in her recliner and watching my boys play with the same enthusiasm and love.

She no longer spends her days cooking five-course meals, but I can still bet on a homemade chocolate pie at any family get-together or celebration. And yes, I’ve followed her recipe exactly and still don’t know how to make the meringue the way she does.

Grandmas do everything out of love. For grandmas, seeing their family happy is the most important thing. Grandmas love unconditionally without asking for anything in return. All I can ask for is for more time with her.