Today is Grandparent’s Day, a day that we pay honor to the parents of our parents and those that mean so much to us. When my daughter heard that was what today was, she great very excited and wanted to make a card and get presents for each of her grandmothers. I listened to her exciting chatter and my husband and I both had to smile. Of the two of us, he has two grandparents still living – his grandmother on his father’s side and his grandfather on his mother’s side. His grandfather celebrates his 96th birthday this November.
My grandfather died ten months before I was born, so I never had the pleasure of meeting him. My grandmother and I were very close for years until her death 7 years ago. Listening to my daughter this morning – I felt a tinge of regret and sadness – missing her. There is much about my life that I would have loved to have shared with her. I would love to have had her at our wedding. I would love to have had her there when my daughter was born.
Let’s be honest – I’d just love to have her here, period.
Treasuring These Family Ties
Family ties – family bonds – they all mean a great deal to us. When we are children, we treasure these relationships naturally. Our grandparents are great people that we don’t get to see often and even if we do – it’s still special because they make us feel special. When they are gone, we feel that loss keenly because that circle of life that existed is disrupted.
I love watching my daughter interact with my mother. I’ve always felt that my mother was too reserved and far too guarded. But she is none of those things with my daughter. She is a great grandmother. She is loving, attentive and supportive. She makes her feel special just by her very existence and she does whatever she can to participate in that. Fostering the relationship between my mother and my daughter – and frankly my daughter and any of her grandparents and great-grandparents is how I pay honor to the relationship I shared with my grandmother.
Someday
Someday, my husband and I will be the grandparents. We muse on that once in a while and at the same time – I am looking forward to it. As grandparents, we will be able to do for our grandchildren what was done for us. I want to be someone’s Nana – and my husband wants to be their Granddad – so take a moment today and wish the grandparents in your life a Happy Grandparent’s Day and honor them for the parents and grandparents as well as gifts that they are.
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