My grandparents all passed away by the time I was 5 years old. I really only met 2 of them. The other two were gone before I was even born. My heart longed for grandparents most of my childhood and even into my teen years. At my wedding I really missed not having grandparents there to cheer me on and give me words of wisdom.

So when I first saw Grandma Betty on InstaGram I instantly adopted her. She became my favorite grandma. Every single morning I would make my coffee and then check in on what Grandma Betty had to say. She became a real part of my life. 

She was the world's grandma.

Her grandson, Zach Belden, wanted to capture some moments with his grandmother as she was battling lung cancer and the entire world was blessed because of it. His photos weren't polished, his videos weren't staged or done with light kits or microphones. We had an opportunity to 'peek' into the lives of the Betty Jo Simpson every single day and our lives are forever changed. She had 684,227 followers on InstaGram. 

She shared wisdom on marriage, how to stay positive through trials and her most important lesson of all was, "Love everybody." A hero is gone but her legacy will forever live on because of social media.

Zach didn't have a degree in marketing, or a business plan. He had a heart for his grandmother and wanted to share her with us all. Her dancing videos made such an impact even celebrity Pharrell loved her when she danced to his top hit, "Happy". 

Some people say social media has destroyed our communication, it's ruining families and many other negative things. But the truth is, it's changed how we connect forever and it's bringing to some of us what we lack or miss in our personal lives. For me, Grandma Betty was my 'adopted virtual Grandma'. She wasn't make-believe in my heart or my mind. As a matter of fact she doesn't live too far away from me. The virtual world and the real world are not separate, they are one world and because of technology, we are now blessed that global strangers can become our neighbors.

Grandma, you won the battle, you've finished your race. I KNOW you're in heaven now dancing to Happy with Jesus! We love you and will miss you so much. You have changed us all.

With love,

Sandi Krakowski