*This will most likely contain spoilers (I haven’t written it yet so idk what I’m going to say but you’ve been warned).

Grace and Frankie is a Netflix special that began streaming in 2015. I, of course, just watched it now in 2021. I’m always way behind the trend because I don’t spend much time watching TV…

BUT ANYWAY…

I’d never seen an advertisement, commercial, or otherwise heard anyone talk about this show on any social media. I was cycling at home and looking for something new to watch. I didn’t have any shows in my queue so I took Netflix’s suggestion, based off my ratings of other shows and clicked “Play First Episode” on the Netflix Original Series – Grace and Frankie.

I have to be honest, I watched the first episode, wasn’t impressed, decided to give it another go… got through the second episode, still wasn’t impressed. Then watched the third episode simply because I could not decide on anything else and I was already halfway through my cycle for the morning.

Of course the first couple episodes included some necessary relationship building and context, but it was SLOW and did not at all captivate me. I continued on out of indecision and almost gave up.

NONE-THE-LESS, I persisted. Once I got passed episode 4, I started to really love the show! It got funnier, racier, and I really started to feel for the characters.

So who are Grace and Frankie and What’s Their Story?!

After finding out their husbands were divorcing them, both women retreat to their beach house, which happens to be co-owned by them both through their husbands. Neither are happy about sharing the space together and are instantly annoyed at the other’s presence.

Although they are incredibly different from one another, they learn to live with each other, and even learn to love each other (non-romantically, not like Sol and Robert) through the many challenges they face of being single, women in their 70’s, who are trying to reinvent themselves are strong independent women who empower other women.

I love the show because although they’re older women, they’re vulgar, and not afraid to talk about things like masturbation, doing drugs, and the challenges of being old. They even go in on a business together where they make vibrators for older women! They play off each other’s strengths and become a real dynamic duo.

How does this relate to me in my late-20’s?

Full transparency, I’m actually almost 30, but this show really touches on a lot of things I’ve already dealt with in my life regarding friendships and relationships in general. It is a roller coaster of emotions and each character really makes me look at myself and my personality. When you have a show with so many different main characters, you can’t help but to think at some point “which one am I?”

There are a lot more characters in the show that I haven’t mentioned in this post and I am one of those other characters. If you watch the show, know that I most closely resemble Brianna. I know what I want, I’m focused on me, I don’t want children and aren’t particularly fond of them, I am always the one with a drink in my hand at any family gathering, and I have a big heart that isn’t always seen at first. My heart drives me in my career, travels, and in my relationships.

While watching this show I started to really think about the friends I have and why I have them. I started thinking about their quirks, their strengths, and how I treat them. I started thinking about people I could entirely be my whole self around and how the outcomes of those thoughts made me feel.

It made me MORE thankful for my best friend and everyone who has supported me in my career changes, moves, and general life goals.

It got me thinking about my relationships and how having a small, but strong circle is absolutely okay because in the end, when I’m older, that’s all that’s going to matter. If I get stuck on a toilet or my back goes out and I’m laying on the floor for hours, who am I going to call?

And most of all, who brings me the most joy and fun in my life. In order to reach the level of relationship Grace and Frankie have, they had to be vulnerable with one another. They had to communicate their frustrations, they had to tell the other person what bothers them, what they like and don’t like and they had to go through some real shit together to get to where they are.

Relationships are truly built through shared experiences and how we choose to grown and thrive in those experiences.

Watching Grace and Frankie helped me deal with getting older. I don’t know why but I’ve always been upset about getting older, I feel like my life is wasting away and I’m not doing enough (even though I do feel like I’ve been doing a good job at living life to the fullest) and each year that passes I feel more and more discouraged about finding my person, my path, and my genuine spot in life. Watching these two come together after 70 and really formed their lives together lifted a bit of weight off my shoulders and reminded me to just relax. Life has a funny way of working out and we can’t give up on searching for our happiness.

* I feel like most people are using some kind of streaming service these days, but just in case you’re not, Netflix offers three plans for their service which you can learn all about on their website here. I am not affiliated nor do I get any type of commission for your sign up or use of Netflix.