Generations

I was terrified of my Grandmas. One had dimentia and once screamed at me, accusing me of trying to kill her family. I was 11. The other seemed more concern with the negative affects of us being around than the fact that we were actually there. I was a nervous, rule breaking wreck.

Thank heavens for marrying into good families! My husband has wonderful Grandmas. Lila was so jovial and sweet. Jean is my heaven sent.

The bad news is, Grandma Jean fell and broke her hip. The good news is, she was brought to the hospital near our house - 2 hours from her home. I've been able to go see her nearly every day. Today she got moved to a rehab facility just a few blocks away. I rode my bike to see her and told my hubby I'd be back in 45 minutes or so.

2 hours later I waltz through the door. I felt so happy and at peace. We talked. Grandma was actually in a laughing mood, so we laughed. She told me about her late husband and we cried. It got late, so I hugged and kissed her. She told me she was glad I was her grand daughter, and we cried and hugged some more.

What a blessing grandparents and great grandparents are! We moved from Oregon to Utah because I felt so strongly that I wanted my kids to have a loving, happy relationship with their grandparents. They've got the best ones ever, so we really need to take advantage of that!

My kiddos get so excited to hear that Granny G is coming to stay the night, or that we're going to Gammy and Grampa's for the weekend. They offer an measure of knowledge, patience, and compassion that I simply cannot provide for them. When we leave the kids for a week to go on vacation, it's like they're doing a Life Apprenticeship. They learn and grow and laugh and cry and trust and hope with their grandparents.

What kind of grandparents do your kids have?