Grandma Is A Prepper

Who would have thought we'd ever witness the entire country...or most of it...on lockdown because of a global pandemic? I'd like to say me, but I'd be lying. But just because I didn't see it coming sooner, doesn't mean I wasn't ready for it! Maybe I didn't know exactly what would happen, but I've always known there is the possibility for life as we know it to be turned totally upside down. Whether it's because of a personal incident (divorce, health issues), a local event (natural disasters happen with some regularity now), or a global crisis like Covid-19, the end result is the same. Things you counted on for your daily existence are no longer available.

Perhaps if I had seen it coming I would have gotten this project started sooner. I'd been thinking about it for a while. But there were so many other things that were demanding my time. It just didn't seem to be urgent.

But in September, something changed. I just had a feeling something was coming. We hadn't heard about the coronavirus yet. But something in my gut just told me I needed to get started. It still took me some time to figure out how to bring everything together under one umbrella. But I finally had a glimmer of an idea that might work and on 9/22/19, Smart About Stuff was born. I've been building it ever since. It's a work in progress. Not only is grandma a prepper, she's also a control freak who has been doing most of the work herself! (Spare me the lecture. I know I'm demanding and hard to work with. I'm also 63 so I don't think it's likely I will change my ways after all this time! And I know a professional could probably have created a much nicer looking site in less time. But then it wouldn't be mine.)

That's more important to me than flashy designs or pretty graphics. Because if there is one thing that bugs the crap out of me it's the number of so-called "prepper" sites that don't really measure up to reality. Sure a piece of property off the grid with all the supplies and equipment you need to survive indefinitely would be ideal. But realistically, that isn't going to happen for most people. I'd rather prepare people to handle a crisis right where they are.

And yes, having stockpiles of food and water and medicines and what not is critical. But it's not all you need. Because not all crises are on the scale of a pandemic. As I've mentioned, something as simple as a divorce can be enough to upend your world. Unless you're prepared, including financially. A health crisis can devastate your family. So it's important to be as healthy and fit as possible to mitigate the effects. A hurricane, a tornado, a flood and you can be homeless, or trapped and injured, with no help available. And it can happen in an instant. You need to be able to survive on your own for as long as necessary until help does arrive. And you need to be prepared to help your neighbors.

That's why I address all of that. So while others may laugh at me and say I'm not really a true "prepper", I laugh at them because I know I am better prepared than most of them.

Yes, grandma is a prepper. I am going to come through the pandemic just fine because I was ready. I'm hoping this crisis will encourage others to join me. What about you? Are you ready? Because being prepared changes everything!