Make It Grand

It is, after all, Grandparents Day! 

It's the one day of the year that we nationally recognize the parents of our parents. Those older folks that are wiser than us, and hopefully, are enjoying their golden years.

The generational gap between us and our grandparents can sometimes be huge. Many decades separate us from them, making them seem so, well, out of touch. 

They listen to different music. They don’t understand social media. Many don’t text or even know how to use a smart phone. They’re of the era when making a call meant using a rotary dial on a wall-hung phone, when party lines still existed. 

Most grandchildren don’t know what that even means.

I was raised by my grandmother. Almost sixty years spanned our age difference. She was conservative, traditional, opinionated, and yes, out of touch with my generation. 

“Girls wore dresses, not jeans,” she said. They didn’t play sports and they certainly didn’t have any friends that were boys. She stopped shy of saying “Speak only when you’re spoken to.” 

If you know me, you know that wouldn’t fly! LOL.

What my grandmother taught me, however, was that her generation, and my parent’s generation, had significant value for all of us. If it weren’t for our ancestors breaking down barriers, fighting for what they believed in and working hard to make their dreams come true, we wouldn’t have what we have today.

It’s true. Grandma’s peers were brought up different from mine. But the world was a different place back then—women couldn’t even vote when my grandma was born!

So on this celebration day, make it grand!

Thank your grandparents for all those achievements their generation made. Pick up the phone—‘cuz they probably can’t text or tweet—and say Hey, thanks for being you!


P.S. Chuck, thank you for all of your stories. This post is for you.. Happy birthday!