Today I talked to my 96-year-old grandmother on the phone.

“Two women were comparing pads over dinner last night,” she said. “One wore Poise. She liked hers. But the other lady’s pads weren’t holding so well. People around here have bad bladders. Most are well padded. Just something that has to be faced I guess.”

I was at the car dealership waiting to get my convertible top fixed when I called my grandma. Ironically, my convertible top had sprung a leak, too. And during rainy season of all times. Not good. But something that had to be faced I guess.

Weird. We both have leaking problems, I thought. Maybe Poise pads will help my car. That visual of Poise pads strategically positioned on top of my car still makes me laugh. I took a mental note to tell the mechanic about this possible solution for leaky tops.

But seriously, when I listen to my grandmother, she talks about her daily struggles: an aching body, boredom, and loneliness mostly. Big stuff for every day. That doesn’t make me laugh. I feel for her.

But her season in life also reminds me that problems never go away. They’ll always be there, each season presenting its own set of disruptions. But today’s conversation also reminded me that our challenges come with solutions, perhaps three different ones:

1. Sometimes we need to be well padded.
2. Sometimes we need to fix the problem, especially during rainy seasons.
3. And sometimes…well…sometimes, we need to just sit in our leaks and discuss them over dinner.

I love you Grandma!