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Post by Fredo on Mar 18, 2009 21:22:02 GMT -5
Do your kids have any available? Mrs Fredo and I were thinking about this tonight. Her parents esccaped the communists under Tito, so even the living grandparents were incommunicado. Of my four grandparents, I have memories of 3. Of my 8 great grandparents, I have memories of 3. On this point, I think I'm pretty darned lucky. Not only do I have a good sense of family, but some memories to work with. My boy, however, is limited to his three living grandparents and one living ggp. In all likelihood, he'll never meet more than his two available grandmothers. I lament this loss for him, but I really don't have any way to mitigate it. Fortunately, the two available grandmothers that he does have would like nothing better than to sit around and play with him. Sadly, one of them is in Canada, so my boy has, in effect, only one grandparent as compared to my 6. That just seems like a damned shame, but I guess I should be pleased that he has virtually unlimited access to one. Some folks don't even get that. End pontification
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Post by CoffeeShooter on Mar 18, 2009 21:49:57 GMT -5
I would definitely get plenty of video of them talking to him. My daughter cherishes the memories of her grandparents. As a child I had my great-grandparents on my dad's side. They were his grandparents, all four of them. I was with 2 of my grandparents when they took their last breath. Two died before I was out of elementary school but one great-grandmother lived until my daughter was about 12. She made it to 99 or 98, we never were sure since she never told the truth about her age. She died kicking and screaming, saying she wasn't ready to go. I felt so bad for her that day. Her heart was failing and she just couldn't accept it. She was my favorite of all of them. All in all, my daughter had 5 grandmothers when she was born! All of them lived nearby so we made a point to get pictures of them all together. She is down to one grandmother now. Plus my dad is her only grandfather left. She remembers all of the others dearly. My paternal grandfather died 3 years ago at age 88. That side of the family tends to live longer than my mother's side. Frankly, extended family isn't always all it is cracked up to be. I have dozens of cousins and they can work my last nerve. Probably just me but that is just too many people in my life.
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Post by copperhead on Mar 18, 2009 22:01:45 GMT -5
I was raised with 3 grandparents plus my father's stepfather, "Grandpa Joe". All three lived until I was an adult. My dd started off with all f 4 grandparents and 2 ggms. Both ggms passed away the year she was 2. With my father passing away, she now has 3 gps left, 2 of them here in town. My son is a different story. My mother is his only gp. He has an aunt with grandchildren his age & he's just crazy about her.
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Post by bignana on Mar 19, 2009 11:00:24 GMT -5
My grandparents we won't even discuss. But my kids had 2 grandmothers (Nanny and Granny), 1 granddad (Papaw) and 1 great grandmother (Big Granny). They remember Big Granny, she died when they were young. Their Granny died about 5 years ago and now they still have Nanny and Papaw. They love their Nanny but she was not a nourishing as the other set (she has a hard time showing her feelings). They were real close to Granny and Papaw. And they had a lot of influence on their formative years. That is one of the reasons that I will do just about anything for my grandson. I want him to have good memories of me. Selfish, maybe, but that is how I want it to be.
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Post by ShellBell on May 23, 2009 8:06:05 GMT -5
Extended family isn't always cracked up to be? .. sorry but that kinda makes me sad and sick in the heart.
My son (who's 14) last Thursday helped to carry his grandmother (my mother) to her last resting place. Saddest day for our entire family by this I'm talking extended. Grief strickin' .. I feel that my mother never got nor asked for the credit she deserved, not with me, my siblings, the grandchildren or anyone. And now it's too late. So I'd like to say in honor of her that She was the best damn Granny in the whole wide world. And I will do my best to keep her memory alive in their hearts.( as my daughter is only 5. ) Grandparents are so much more than significant.. no matter what we feel as parents as to the role they "should or shouldn't" play to/with our children. They do MATTER.
If you've never had one around then you dont know what you've missed out on.. but for those who have had a relationship with grandparents, (normal or not) even extended family for that matter well .... ---> it's priceless!
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