Human Rights Awareness & Grandma

December often feels loud. The deadlines, the holidays, the emotional pull of the year ending. But December is also Human Rights Month, which quietly asks a different kind of question.

What does dignity look like in real life, not just in principle.

Human rights are sometimes framed as something global and far away, like history books and headlines. But they also live in ordinary places. In homes. In schools. In medical waiting rooms. In the way we speak to one another when we disagree. In whether a child feels safe to be honest. In whether a parent can show up consistently without being undermined.

At its core, human rights are about people being treated as fully human. When systems work well, they reduce harm. They protect the vulnerable. They create structure where chaos could easily grow.

When systems fail, people are left carrying burdens that were never meant to be carried alone.

Remembering grandma

December is also a month that will be of a different kind of remembrance for me.

My grandma passed on December 1. As the month progresses, I feel her presence not in grand gestures, but in quiet values that shaped how she lived.

She believed in showing up.                                                                                  

In faith over fear.

In kindness that did not require credit.

In protecting family, especially the young and the vulnerable.

When I think about human rights, I do not first think of documents or declarations. I think of people like her. People who lived dignity before they ever named it.

Honouring her during Human Rights Month feels aligned. Both are about remembering what matters when life is difficult. Both ask us to treat people as fully human, even when it would be easier not to.

As the year closes and the light slowly begins to return, I carry her with me. In choosing steadiness over reaction. In protecting what is tender. In continuing to believe that dignity, once planted, continues to grow.